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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25870954">Reveille</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bastet5/pseuds/Bastet5'>Bastet5</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Wild Hunt [18]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>FBI (TV 2018), FBI: Most Wanted (TV 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Guilt, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Internal Monologue, Panic Attacks, Racism, Secrets, Skeletons In The Closet, Trigger Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 08:33:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>21,921</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25870954</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bastet5/pseuds/Bastet5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After nearly dying in November 2019, life has settled back towards normal ... a new normal, but still normal ... as Kateri prepares to conclude her medical leave and return to work.</p>
<p>Less than a week before her return to work, what was going to be an evening out with an old friend turns into a living nightmare when ICE gets involved, and Kateri finds herself disappeared into ICE custody for a second time in her life.</p>
<p>This time ... Tali is with her.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clinton Skye &amp; Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Wild Hunt [18]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1678864</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>63</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Wednesday, February 5: Day 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Thank you for your patience over my delay in posting Reveille. Since I last posted, I have moved a couple of thousand miles and been up to my eyeballs in boxes to unpack. You never quite realize how much stuff you have until you see it all packed up and then have to unpack it all!! Now that I have internet again, I can finally start posting this story.</p>
<p>Trigger Warnings for ICE and its treatment of illegal immigrants, racism towards 'illegals,' and the like.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Almost nine weeks had passed since Kateri’s release from Bellevue Hospital after nearly dying in the line-of-duty. Nearly twelve weeks had passed since she took the bullet meant for her partner’s back. Considering that four fractured ribs and two major incisions had put her under heavy physical restrictions, Kateri had accepted the invitation of Clinton’s parents to spend a large chunk of her recovery time—<em>the part when I couldn’t do a lot of stuff to take care of myself. Laundry anyone? Grocery shopping? Driving to doctor’s appointments?</em>—at Skye farm. The time had brought about a major, live-changing personal revelation in regards to her relationship with Clinton and had resulted in her gaining a second family:<em> I now have the team and the Skyes and a new cousin</em>.</p>
<p>As much as Kateri had relished her time with the Skyes—her time with her new family— with all its life-changing revelations and had thoroughly enjoyed their hospitality, she was also glad to be home, glad to be back in her familiar stomping grounds in the Bronx again. It was good to be home. <em>Even glad to see Billy again. </em>It was good to sleep in her own bed again. <em>No bed like my own bed.</em> It was good to go back to mass again, see the people she knew at church, do some volunteering again to help pass the time. It was good to be able to physically do all the normal things that she had done before November 22 and had taken somewhat for granted. <em>Like bending over to tie my shoes or hauling my own laundry basket and making my own food and buying my own groceries. </em>Her usual routine had been normal … until it wasn’t.</p>
<p>Being back at work soon, being back with her teammates (her family, <em>one set of them now</em>, <em>and isn’t that a nice feeling),</em> back in the swing of things would be even better, and Kateri only had a few more days to wait for that. On Monday, she got to return to work. Just four more days. <em>I will unfortunately now be the record holder of who has the longest amount of injury leave … I think? </em>Previously the record holder had been Kenny after nearly getting smushed by a fridge a little over two years before. Hana’s injury leave after the Ice Bath mission hadn’t even come close to challenging that record. <em>Thankfully, for her sake. The powers-that-be also let her come back early and just sit in the bus and work with her feet propped up before she was cleared for field duty.</em></p>
<p><em>And that was a record none of us hoped to beat,</em> Kateri thought to herself as she cleaned up her lunch dishes and started to muse about what to make for dinner. <em>Hopefully no one’ll go and break my record down. Not any time soon, at the very least. We’ve had enough near disasters for a long time</em>. Their job was a dangerous one, but the team had faced a number of hard cases over the previous five years, two of which had nearly ended in disaster, and several more that could have gone bad … <em>if a few things had been different.</em></p>
<p>The buzzing of her personal cellphone signaling an incoming text broke her from her thoughts. <em>Usually my first assumption would be junk or Jess telling us we have a case. Won’t be the latter. So what’s it going to be?</em> <em>One of the others checking up on me? </em>Kateri guessed junk …  but was flabbergasted to see who had actually just texted her.</p>
<p>“Zoey Armstrong, well I’ll be d**ned,” Kateri muttered to herself, “It’s been a while.”</p>
<p>Zoe Armstrong, better known as Zoey to her friends, was a former teammate of Kateri’s from the days with Organized Crime years earlier before her transfer to the Fugitive Task Force. A tall, lanky red-head, who sometimes seemed to survive on coffee and carbs (<em>like Hana</em>) and be semi-permanently attached to her desk chair and, at least, one piece of tech, Zoey had been one of the only two people on her team that Kateri actually liked. <em>Also one of the few reasons I didn’t quit before Jess recruited me. Also one of the reasons I managed to be as successful as I was.</em> About a year after Kateri had left, Zoey had retired from the FBI in disgust at the work environment in Organized Crime and entered the private sector. Partially because of crazy-busy schedules and partially because she was just not that good at keeping up with people she didn’t see on a regular basis, Kateri had lost touch with her old friend and colleague a few years earlier.</p>
<p>
  <em>I only heard she’d retired because Miguel told me before he transferred field offices.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I think she’s still in the area?</em>
</p>
<p><em>Let’s see what she wants</em>.</p>
<p>The text was lengthy and contained about as many gifs and emojis combined as words, not unusual considering the way Zoey’s mind seemed to work, or so it seemed on first glance.</p>
<p><em>Oh, my</em>.</p>
<p>*So now I feel like a horrible person,” it began, “not only have I not checked on you in forever, but just now I hear you nearly got offed again.”</p>
<p>
  <em>I wouldn’t say exactly that I nearly got offed …. Wasn’t a gang hit.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Bit the dust in the line-of-duty, sure.</em>
</p>
<p><em>Offed has the wrong connotation</em>.</p>
<p>*Hope you’re well on the road to recovery,” the text continued, *Text back if you want to catch up sometime. Wishing you all the best. Zoey.*</p>
<p>Kateri smiled ruefully and quickly typed out a reply, *I haven’t done any better at correspondence. I’d be glad to catch up. Am still on medical leave until Monday.*</p>
<p>
  <em>So, no unpredictable work schedule to work around.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Hmmmmm…</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>What to make for dinner?</em>
</p>
<p>After a few minutes of rummaging through cabinets and vainly trying to come up with enough stuff to make a decent supper—<em>not even enough for me to make supper, and I usually can come up with something. Grocery run, it is, I guess</em>—Kateri heard her phone buzz again.</p>
<p>*Have you died for boredom yet? Get off work at 8ish. Want to get a drink after?*</p>
<p><em>A little late for my tastes, but once won’t kill me</em>.</p>
<p>With a smile and a laugh, Kateri texted back, *Not yet. Sure. Where?*</p>
<p>There was a longer break between texts, and Kateri started in on a prospective shopping list, jotting down a few things to get to make supper and a few more things she needed generally. <em>Can make a full shopping run later. Just get enough for today, today</em>.</p>
<p>Finally, her phone buzzed again with a reply from Zoey. The address her old teammate sent back was for a bar in Huntington, a large town in Suffolk County on Long Island. Huntington was unfortunately about an hour’s drive from Kateri’s apartment in the Bronx, but it would be worth it to catch up with an old friend. The traffic between the two places could, Kateri knew, be unpredictable especially in the evening on a workday, so <em>I won’t want to wait until late to leave</em>.</p>
<p>After finishing up a couple of others chores around her apartment—<em>chores we also have with us always … like death and taxes</em>—Kateri decided just to leave soon thereafter for Huntington. She could buy dinner there and spend the afternoon and early evening volunteering at a food bank she had been to a handful of times before: Island Garden Food Bank. Her church donated boxes of food or clothes or other goods to them from time to time among the handful of major food banks in the general vicinity. (There were less in that area than one would think.)</p>
<p>
  <em>And sadly, they almost always can use donations.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>This is America, but a lot of people still need a helping hand.</em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>Doing volunteer work was a nice change of pace from Kateri’s usual life or death adventures in the field and nice opportunity to give back to people in need. <em>I needed some assistance from places like this back during college and for a few years after. Glad I can give back now</em>. Island Garden Food Bank was always happy and in need of volunteers, and Kateri was glad to be of use and glad to be able to be of use. Her strength was not 100% back, she felt at some points, but had largely returned and <em>walking from bed to the couch no longer feels like an accomplishment</em>. There were other people volunteering at the food bank that day, too. Some were children or teens. Some were adults. All were coming together to help those in need.</p>
<p>Not long after dinner, one voice in particular pierced through Kateri’s thoughts as she headed back from helping with the washing up, a child’s voice, loud despite the size of the warehouse-like space.</p>
<p><em>A lot nicer than the warehouses I’m usually in</em>.</p>
<p>
  <em>Not risking being shot at is a plus, too.</em>
</p>
<p>“Kiase!”<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a></p>
<p>There was only one person that called Kateri that, and old instincts had Kateri spinning before she had even fully identified the voice, opening her arms to catch the small form that barreled into her at near-full speed, pulling one foot back to brace herself and keep herself from getting bowled over by the force of the hug. (More recently formed instincts had Kateri drawing what had been her weaker left side back to protect it, <em>and that is a tell you are going to need to eliminate before someone tries to use it against you in a fight.</em>)</p>
<p><em>No wonder Clinton calls them thud hugs</em>.</p>
<p>Arms wrapped around her waist, and Kateri hugged Tali back. It had been a whole week-and-a-half since Kateri had seen Tali and Nelson and Marilou, having not made it to Sunday dinner the previous Sunday, though she and Tali had talked a couple times on the phone and texted a lot. Tali was fond of sending her random photos of whatever interesting or interestingly random things she saw during the day, at school, on walks, etc.</p>
<p>“What are you doing here?” Asked Tali once she had pulled back from the hug, eyes shining in delight. “I’ve missed you so much.”</p>
<p><em>Just about to ask you that, kiddo</em>.</p>
<p>
  <em>And it’s only been ten days!</em>
</p>
<p>“I missed you, too, Tali,” Kateri replied, smiling in response. <em>Tali’s enthusiasm is almost infectious</em>. “And I’m killing time until I meet a friend later. What are you doing here?”</p>
<p>“A boyfriend?” Tali’s eyes got even wider.</p>
<p>
  <em>What, no!</em>
</p>
<p>Kateri snickered and shook her head, “Nope. An old friend from work.”</p>
<p>
  <em>Where do you get these ideas, kiddo?</em>
</p>
<p>“Oh. I’m here with some of the kids from my school. We’re doing volunteer work.”</p>
<p>“Very nice,” Kateri replied, her eyes coming up off of Tali to the older woman with greying hair and a stern face approaching quickly. <em>Guessing that’s a teacher. Probably wondering what Tali’s doing or who the h**l I am, considering she can’t speak Mohawk</em>.</p>
<p>The oncoming teacher’s face was shifting between concern and maybe exasperation. “Tali,” she chided, “You know better than running off like that and bothering the nice lady.”</p>
<p>
  <em>Nice lady? That appellation amuses me from some reason.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I don’t exactly look like a lady in hiking boots, cargo pants, and a leather jacket.</em>
</p>
<p>“But Mrs. H…”</p>
<p>Kateri squeezed Tali’s shoulder in a “let me” sign that hopefully got the message across, “I’m sorry for worrying you, ma’am. I’m Kateri Wood. Tali and I are cousins,”—<em>unofficially adopted cousins, but who’s counting</em>— “We haven’t seen each other in a bit, and we were excited to see each other again. I’m FBI like her father.”</p>
<p>The teacher’s face cleared for a second but then got puzzled. <em>Now what?</em> “I didn’t know you had a cousin, Tali.”</p>
<p><em>Oh, for heaven’s sake</em>.</p>
<p>“I’m not around a lot because of work.” <em>Completely true and actually has nothing to do with the situation</em>.</p>
<p>“Alright. Come along, Tali. Let’s get back to the others.”</p>
<p>Daniel, the tall black man with long dreadlocks who was one of the supervisors of the food bank, had stopped to watch them and see what was going on but returned to work, as Kateri returned to her work station near where Tali and the other school children were. Another half an hour or so passed quietly, each working at their own tasks. Kateri was starting to keep a closer eye on her watch, wanting to make sure she left herself enough time to go meet Zoey at the bar.</p>
<p>Suddenly, a loud commotion began, coming from the direction of the warehouse doors. Kateri’s head snapped up and around, as she automatically began scanning for a threat.</p>
<p>The reason for the commotion became visible a moment later.</p>
<p><em>Oh, bloody h**l</em>.</p>
<p><em>You’ve got to be bloody joking</em>.</p>
<p>LEOs in dark jackets with badges hanging on cords around their necks were pouring into the food bank, some with guns drawn. <em>Bloody h**l</em>. What agency they were with, Kateri couldn’t see at first. Her eyes went first back toward Tali, just a few yards away.</p>
<p>“Tali!” Kateri snapped, worry and concern harshening her tone, “Come here now.” The girl did as she was told and broke from the circle of her teacher (despite her protests) and the other students and ran to Kateri’s side, eyes wide but calm for the moment. “Call your father. Tell him what’s happening.”</p>
<p>Everyone was starting to be herded toward the center of the warehouse in the large open area where Kateri and Tali already were. Guns were drawn and up, but no one was resisting, mutely doing as directed, probably too shocked to do anything else. Some of the children were crying, even a couple of the adults. Others were calm. As the LEOs got closer, Kateri was able to finally read the name on their jackets.</p>
<p>It was an ICE raid.</p>
<p>
  <em>Oh, bloody h**l.</em>
</p>
<p>The scene vaguely reminded Kateri of shots in documentaries of animal roundups, and considering how some were treated in ICE custody, the comparison might not have been that far off the mark.</p>
<p><em>I hate ICE</em>.</p>
<p>Of all the law enforcement agencies Kateri had every worked with—and she had worked with a long list of state and federal agencies—she hated and … feared … ICE the most. She had had run-ins with them years earlier before she had ever joined the Fugitive Response Team, and those were not pleasant memories. Aside from the moments she had to deal with them for work and had backup with her or nearby, ICE was something she preferred to leave in her past, a skeleton that she much preferred to stay in the very back of a deep, dark closet.</p>
<p>Tali was fumbling with her cellphone, but within moments the call had gone through. “Dad, dad, can you hear me?” Her voice was more frantic than her face was, at least to Kateri’s thoughts.</p>
<p>Kateri had stepped away from Tali’s side—just out of arm’s length—swiveling to try to keep an eye on where all the ICE agents were and keep her own body between Tali and the guns. <em>Don’t trust any of these bozos not to do something stupid, and they’ll hurt her over my dead body</em>.</p>
<p>Over the screaming and crying and commotion, Jess’ reply could faintly be heard, “Yea, Tali, what’s going on?”</p>
<p>
  <em>ICE is doing what ICE does best, and we’re smack in the middle of it.</em>
</p>
<p>“I don't know. I am at the food bank where we volunteer, and it's being raided,” Tali replied all in a rush, words tumbling over themselves in her haste to spit the message out while she still had a chance.</p>
<p>
  <em>Don’t trust ICE not to screw everything up.</em>
</p>
<p>Two pairs of goons were getting closer and closer to Kateri and Tali, and Kateri had to go against her protective instincts to keep her body relaxed. This was not a situation where fighting or being belligerent would help the situation one iota. Taking a step back, she drew back closer to Tali. <em>Am I in the picture? Was I in the picture?</em></p>
<p>“Raided … who?” Jess was asking.</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” Tali started to reply, but then the goons were upon them. One caught Kateri by the arm, “Come with me.” Two approached Tali, and her phone was snatched from her hands. “Hey, give me my phone back,” Tali protested with a cry.</p>
<p>Tali and Kateri were forced in the direction of the gathering crowd, but the way the goons were marching them, the two were slowly being separated. <em>Not happening!</em> Not thinking of the potential consequences and only thinking about NOT being separated from Tali, Kateri jerked her arm from the ICE’s agent’s bruisingly tight grip, “I’m an American citizen, and that’s my underage cousin. You have no right to detain us. Let me go now.” Her eyes went almost frantically to Tali who starting to freak out a little bit.</p>
<p>Resisting—if what you could call what Kateri had done resisting—was the wrong thing to do. In what was starting to turn into a repeat of her NYPD arrest years before, the two agents manhandled her to the ground, with a knee in her back, and her hands were cuffed with temporary, zip-tie like cuffs. The pressure of the knee on her back made her side flare in pain, as muscles that still tended to be a little too stiff at some points in the day protested the harsh treatment.</p>
<p><em>Could’a killed me if my ribs were still broken</em>.</p>
<p>“Let her go. Let her go,” Tali was screaming, her voice a piercing shriek, “You’re hurting her. She didn’t do anything.” Only an ICE agent’s grip on her arm kept her in place.</p>
<p>Kateri was dragged to her feet, and it took her a minute for her to catch her breath after getting the wind knocking out of her.</p>
<p>
  <em>I hate ICE.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>How do we get into these messes?</em>
</p>
<p><em>No gun, at least. But no ID either</em>. Off duty and still on injury leave, Kateri wore her gun out on errands in the Bronx but for just coming out to get a drink with a friend—<em>at a bar where drunk people do stupid things around us and crazy things happen</em>—she’d left it at home and, out of her usual routines, had neglected to grab her ID off her bedside table.</p>
<p><em>Bloody h**l. ICE might say it was fake anyway</em>.</p>
<p>Kateri and Tali were brought to the mass of herded together workers, volunteers, and visitors, and the agents released them into the huddled mass of scared and crying adults and children. As soon as she was free, Tali barreled over into Kateri, who would have wrapped her in a hug … except that her hands were cuffed behind her back.</p>
<p>“Are you okay?” Tali asked, voice tremulous. <em>She’s a brave kiddo, but this is a situation no kid should be put in</em>.</p>
<p><em>My back and side ache</em>. “I’m alright. We’ll be alright. We’re citizens. ICE can’t—<em>legally, not that that always means anything to them</em>—“detain us. This should be over soon.” <em>I bloody hope!</em></p>
<p>Slowly, cautiously Kateri rotated her wrists within the zip-tie cuffs, ensuring that she wasn’t losing feeling in her hands and checking to see how much give there was. It was possible to break out of zip-tie restraints as a general matter, but that was a last resort if this situation really went belly up.</p>
<p>Tali took a half-step closer to Kateri, her head going around to survey the situation with wide eyes. <em>I’m so sorry, kid. Shouldn’t be something you get caught in at your age. No kid should.</em></p>
<p>Kateri could feel her heart pounding in her throat, and she resolutely forced herself to focus on Tali—<em>got to keep her safe</em>—and the rapidly changing situation. Now wasn’t a time for the memories of the past to overwhelm her. <em>You can have a panic attack later. Keep it together for now</em>. She knew that it was not going to be a pleasant night nightmare-wise once she got home.</p>
<p><em>I’ll have a story to tell Zoey … and the others</em>.</p>
<p>
  <em>One of these days I think they might just stop letting me off on my own period.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Never would have called myself a trouble-magnet, but … I think I got jinxed.</em>
</p>
<p>Everyone seemed to be all gathered now, and one particular ICE agent, probably the lead agent on the raid, stepped forward. “Alright, listen up,” he shouted, pitching his voice to be heard over the mass of crying children and adults yelling at the agents, “IDs. I want to see IDs from each and every one of you.”</p>
<p>
  <em>Checking to see that we’re all reallllyyyyy Americans.</em>
</p>
<p><em>I hate ICE</em>.</p>
<p>
  <em>And where’s your warrant exactly?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>You usually do no-knock warrants on food banks?</em>
</p>
<p>Tali looked up at Kateri, a question in her eyes.</p>
<p>“Do what they say unless I tell you not to,” Kateri replied, “And hopefully the sooner we’ll get out of here.”</p>
<p>Kateri watched the agents move through the group, scrutinizing IDs, and she mentally started to memorize faces now that the scene was not so chaotic. <em>And of course, the people of color are getting their IDs starred at the longest</em>. That did not bode well for either of the two of them. <em>Not exactly a visible difference between Hispanics and Native Americans, at least not one they could tell</em>. Tali’s shoulders were trembling slightly, but her face was dry.</p>
<p>“Why don’t I drive you home after this is done?” Kateri shifted her shoulders, trying to ease the pressure and the funny angle the tightly bound cuffs were pulling her shoulders into. <em>I’ll tell Zoey we need to reschedule</em>. “Your father knows something up, and we can meet in the middle and get you home faster."</p>
<p>Tali nodded agreement.</p>
<p>A minute later the agents checking IDs reached the pair. “IDs?” One asked.</p>
<p>Tali looked up at Kateri, and Kateri made a slight motion telling her to wait, asking instead, “Do you have a warrant?” Dark stare. No answer. “We’re American citizens. I’m FBI. Her father’s FBI. You have no authority to detain us. Doing so is a violation of our Constitutional Rights.”</p>
<p>A heavy sigh, “Ma’am, just let us do our jobs. The sooner you do that, the sooner we can all go home. IDs.”</p>
<p>
  <em>Seriously?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>What is this ‘we’ you speak of?</em>
</p>
<p><em>The people you detain aren’t going home tonight</em>.</p>
<p><em>And do you think I didn’t notice you avoiding my points</em>.</p>
<p>Finally, Kateri nodded assent, and Tali pulled out hers and proffered it. “I can’t get to mine with my hands cuffed,” Kateri added dryly.</p>
<p>“Do you plan on resisting again?”</p>
<p>“Not unless you try to separate my cousin and I again.”</p>
<p>That got Kateri another dark look, but the other agent freed her hands, and after rubbing her wrists out of more habit than anything else, Kateri proffered her ID. Her long sleeves had protected her wrists somewhat from the tight cuffs, though they still ached.</p>
<p>The agents moved on, continuing to check ideas, and Tali drew a step closer to Kateri, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders. <em>Can’t tell you things are going to be okay, because I’ve got a bad feeling about this, but I’ll get you back to Jess, so help me God</em>. A few minutes later Kateri’s worst fears began to come true. <em>Bloody, bloody h**l</em>. She could feel her heart rate jump and her breath catch in her throat for a moment as ten Latina women and girls were separated from the rest of the group by ICE.</p>
<p>ICE’s agents turned to them next.</p>
<p>
  <em>Names and numbers, I am going to have your hides.</em>
</p>
<p>“You, two,” a burly agent approached Kateri and Tali, “You’re coming with us.”</p>
<p>“No,” Kateri snapped, “We are American citizens. Her father and I work for the FBI. You have no authority to detain us or arrest us. Your jurisdiction does not cover us. Detaining us is a violation of our Constitutional rights as citizens of the United States.”</p>
<p>The burly agent’s face hardened, and his hands flexed, “Yea, right. You don’t even have ID. You’re coming with us."</p>
<p>Another agent approached, the one who had given the original order for everyone to show IDs. <em>The boss? </em>His hair was short, buzz-cut short, and his face was rugged with dark eyes. He was built like a football player. “Is there a problem here?” He asked brusquely.</p>
<p>“This woman is refusing to cooperate,” Burly Agent replied.</p>
<p>“Is that true?” Possibly-Boss Agent replied, “You’ll only make things worse for yourself and your daughter if you don’t cooperate.”</p>
<p><em>Oh, for heaven’s sake</em>.</p>
<p>Kateri rolled her eyes. “She’s my cousin, not my daughter. And you are the ones who will make things worse for yourself if you try to detain us. We’re American citizens. We’ve showed you our ID. I’m an FBI agent. I don’t have my Bureau ID became I am on medical leave. Call the local field office. I can give you the number. You can even call my boss. You have no right to detain us anyway. I will happily call my lawyer and let him tell you that … in detail.” <em>And Clinton would rip you up one side and down the other not so politely at the same time, and I will pop popcorn because that would be yet one more thing to distract me from how much I would really like to have a panic attack right now, and now is not that time for that, so focus. Gotta keep Tali safe</em>.</p>
<p>“You don’t look American,” was Possibly-Boss agent’s simply reply. <em>Racial profiling</em>. “You’re going with the other illegals.”</p>
<p>The two were herded toward the separated group, and that single action roused a ruckus. Daniel, the floor supervisor, was screaming, his deep baritone audible over the mass of overlapping voices, “She’s from the Middle School. That’s her teacher.” The other children and Tali’s one present teacher—Mrs. H—seemed to be shouting the same thing.</p>
<p>It didn’t do any good.</p>
<p>
  <em>Not that I would have expected it to.</em>
</p>
<p>The twelve detained women—<em>interesting. Not going after the couple men of color?</em>—were ordered to relinquish their cellphones. Tali somehow still had hers or had gotten it back. <em>No way I’m letting ICE get a hold of my burner. I’ll smash it before I give it to ICE.</em></p>
<p>“Chloe,” Tali shouted toward the crowd of her classmates.</p>
<p>A small girl with blazing red hair and freckles broke from the crowd and dashed over against the shout and sudden grab for her white jacket by the teacher. Chloe threw her arms around Tali’s neck, and the two girls hugged.</p>
<p>“Give this to my Dad, please!” Tali asked, handing over her phone to the girl and then glancing back at Kateri for a second.</p>
<p><em>Oh, bloody h**l</em>.</p>
<p>
  <em>What other choice do I have?</em>
</p>
<p>Quickly extracting all three of her phones from their respective pockets and powering them down, Kateri knelt across from Tali’s friend. “I work with Tali’s Dad. He knows what happened, and he’ll be coming to find us. I’m sorry to have to ask this of you, sweetheart, but you can make sure these get to him, too.”</p>
<p>The girl nodded.</p>
<p>It was time to go, and all twelve women and children were herded outside—<em>like sheep in front of a big dog</em>—to a large waiting van. Tali clung close to Kateri’s side as they walked, her head on a swivel as she watched all that was happening with wide eyes.</p>
<p>
  <em>No kid should have this happen to them.</em>
</p>
<p><em>Their innocence ripped away</em>.</p>
<p>
  <em>ICE’s a bloody menace. Illegals or not, you don’t treat human beings like this.</em>
</p>
<p>“Your father and your uncle’ll find us,” Kateri whispered, keeping her arm around the girl’s shoulders. <em>No way am I letting you out of my sight until all this is over</em>. “It’ll be okay.”</p>
<p>A decent sized van when it was empty, the van was quite a bit smaller and more confined with all the women and children inside, and Kateri had to force herself to keep moving, force herself not to baulk in fear when it was her turn to climb in. <em>So very familiar</em>. She swallowed hard. <em>Don’t let them see you’re afraid. Don’t let Tali see. You’ve got to be strong for her. You’ve got to keep it together</em>.</p>
<p>Kateri settled herself on the hard metal bench, taking a seat near the door, Tali at her side. Once everyone was inside, the windowless doors were slammed shut, leaving them all in dim light, the back lit only by a single dim light on the ceiling.</p>
<p>
  <em>This is why Billy says I have nine lives.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Trouble has a horrific capacity for finding me.</em>
</p>
<p><em>I’m not sure Rakeni … Clinton’ll ever let me out of his sight again</em>.</p>
<hr/>
<p>One long van ride followed. Without windows it was impossible to keep track of where they were going, and it was dark enough and crowded enough to make it difficult to see her watch or get it close enough to her face to see how much time passed. Some of the other women were talking quietly in Spanish, and Kateri wished she knew more of the language so that she could understand more of what was being said. <em>Only ever picked up a bit from Billy … that and his accent. </em>Several of the other children were crying quietly, comforted by their companions.</p>
<p>Kateri could feel her heart rate increasing as the ride dragged on and on and on and on. <em>Where in all the bloody blue blazes are they taking us?</em> The darkness only increased the seeming smallness of the van, and Kateri kept having to tell herself that the walls were not closing in on her or them. <em>How am I hot and sweaty in this weather? It’s February. I usually get chills. </em>She could almost start ticking off the symptoms of an impending panic attack.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Not the time.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Not the time. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Gotta take care of Tali.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Deep breaths.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>You know the drill.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Keeping breathing.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Memories of her past encounter with ICE years, of her time in ICE custody before teased at the edge of her mind, trying to drag her into the abyss of flashbacks and panic attacks, but she ruthlessly tried to drive them back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Not the time. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>That’s the past. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>This is different. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Jess is looking for us</em>.</p>
<p>“Dad’ll come find us,” Tali said quietly but with utter conviction.</p>
<p><em>And Clinton’ll be right behind</em>.</p>
<p>“I know. We’ll just have to take care of each other until they come.”</p>
<p>
  <em>It’s how long that’ll take that concerns me.</em>
</p>
<p><em>ICE is good at losing people … even citizens</em>.</p>
<p>
  <em>Hope Zoey doesn’t think I ditched her.</em>
</p>
<p>After a long ride in a crowded van full of tired, frightened women and children, the ICE van finally reached whatever detention facility they were headed for. As soon as the back door was opened and Kateri had stepped out, she immediately recognized where they were even before she had reached back to help Tali down. <em>New York City. We’re back in bloody New York City</em>. <em>Jess’ headed for Long Island, and we’re back bloody here</em>. It had been seven long years since Kateri had seen this place last, and she would have been quite happy if it had been seven times that long before she ever saw it again. <em>Bloody ICE</em>.</p>
<p>Kateri could feel her heart pick up as the new arrivals were herded inside through familiar hallways. A knot had settled in her gut; her hands were shaking, so she stuffed them in her jacket pockets; and her limbs were prickling like they had gone to sleep.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Not the time. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Not the time. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Come on. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Keep it together.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>You know the drill.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p><em>In for 5 seconds. Hold for 2 seconds. Out for 5 seconds. Rinse. Repeat</em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>In for 5 seconds. Hold for 2 seconds. Out for 5 seconds. Rinse. Repeat</em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>In for 5 seconds. Hold for 2 seconds. Out for 5 seconds. Rinse. Repeat</em>.</p>
<p>Nothing much had changed inside the holding facilities, as Kateri immediately saw, as the new detainees entered the main holding room. Black sheeting still covered the walls. The lighting was still bad. The detainees—<em>still too many children</em>—were still kept in cages like animals. And were there beds or real blankets—<em>tinfoil doesn’t count</em>? Nooooo. What beds there were could barely be called mats. <em>Not sure they’d even qualify as futons.</em> Was the climate control inside any better after seven years? Nooooooo.</p>
<p>
  <em>This should be illegal.</em>
</p>
<p>The detainees from the food bank raid were distributed among the different dorms in the warehouse-like room, but Kateri and Tali stayed together. <em>Not letting her out of my sight until they find us</em>. Kateri glanced around, cataloging everyone and scanning for threats, and then tugged Tali gently toward an open area along the back wall.</p>
<p>“Now what?” Tali finally asked once both had taken a seat.</p>
<p>“Now we wait,” Kateri replied.</p>
<p>“Why are they doing this? We’re Americans.”</p>
<p>
  <em>With ICE, who bloody knows…</em>
</p>
<p><em>What is it with you and tough questions, kiddo</em>.</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” Kateri answered softly, “Legally, they can’t do what they’re doing ... not to us. Detaining citizens is a violation of our Constitutional rights, but … with ICE things get very complicated very fast.”</p>
<p>
  <em>Immigration generally is a bloody complicated issue with bloody complicated cases.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>And complicated cases make for bad, messy laws.</em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>The night that followed was one of the longest in Kateri’s entire life. It was nearing 10pm when the new detainees were settled at the New York City ICE Detention Facility, but despite the late hour, no adjustments were made to the lights, and there were no new ‘beds’ for the new arrivals, at least not for Tali and Kateri.</p>
<p><em>Can’t see how everyone’s faring</em>.</p>
<p>Tali was forced to sleep on the cold ground, using Kateri’s leather jacket as a blanket and her leg for a pillow. Although pure exhaustion finally dragged the girl into sleep, Kateri could not find any rest. She just sat for a long time, back up against the wall of their <em>cell, </em>right hand stroking in a constant, repetitive motion over Tali’s hair again and again.</p>
<p>It was too like before.</p>
<p>It was also very different.</p>
<p>
  <em>Jess and the others are coming for us.</em>
</p>
<p><em>And a h**l of a lot sooner than the others upstairs were</em>.</p>
<p>It was still too like before.</p>
<p>As her less than pleasant meeting with NYPD Detective Cortez several months earlier had reminded her, there were a few details—<em>more than a few details</em>—that Kateri had neglected to tell Clinton and the others about the 2013 arrest of her temporary alias, Alejandra Moreno. Some of those details had to do with Detective Cortez. More had to do with what came after that arrest.</p>
<p>Alejandra Moreno had been a very basic—<em>too basic</em>—cover created by FBI’s Organized Crime techs <em>on the orders of my fool boss</em> to facilitate a meeting between Kateri and some of Billy’s acquaintances, <em>who didn’t and still don’t know I’m a bloody Fed</em>. In a case of wrong-place, wrong-time, and horrifically bad luck, Kateri while undercover had been swept up in a drug raid and arrested for possession, though she was not charged in the end. Cortez had been her arresting officer, her rather violent arresting officer. To keep up appearances, Kateri had been forced to put up some amount of fight, but Cortez, who was about twice her size, had gone overboard while subduing her, leaving her with a number of bruises, two cracked ribs, and a broken wrist.</p>
<p><em>I know from firsthand experience how true his reputation for going overboard is</em>.</p>
<p>After sitting in a holding cell with a bunch of ruffians for 48 hours—<em>at least, having Crew there meant I didn’t get roughed up or assaulted by some of the other lowlifes</em>—things went from bad to worse. Alejandra Moreno had been an extremely basic cover that was only supposed to be used short term. The op had been created in a hurry<em>—too much of a hurry</em>—and Kateri’s alias had almost no paperwork and only the barest of backstopping. With her too basic cover and coloring that could be judged to be Hispanic by someone who didn’t know better, Kateri was believed to be an illegal immigrant. <em>Despite the fact that I can’t speak more than a few words of Spanish and my accent is faked, a copy of Billy’s</em>. Not wanting to blow her cover without guidance from above, Kateri hadn’t disputed the fact.</p>
<p>48 hours after being arrested, Kateri had been dumped from the frying pan—NYPD custody—into the fire—an ICE detention facility. <em>THIS facility</em>. It took four days before her unit found her. Four extremely, horrifically long days spent locked up in a cage.</p>
<p><em>Claustrophobic’s nightmare before I got locked up in a tack room trussed up like a chicken</em>.</p>
<p><em>Illegal immigrant, bloody h**l. The only place they could even try to deport me to is Canada</em>.</p>
<p>There was no need for flashbacks to her previous time in ICE custody anymore. Kateri was back physically in the old nightmares themselves. <em>Was in that ‘dorm’ across the aisle last time. Place hasn’t changed a bit</em>. Her hand continued its repetitive motion back and forth over Tali’s hair, a gesture that was as much for her sake as Tali’s, if she woke up and felt it.</p>
<p><em>Grounding exercises aren’t much good. No point in telling myself I’m here and there, when I’m actually in the place from the flashback</em>.</p>
<p><em>Bloody h**l. The sooner you come find us the better</em>.</p>
<p><em>Please come find us.</em> </p>
<hr/>
<p><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> Mohawk. Cousin.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Thursday, February 6: Day 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Updated: August 17</p><p>One of my readers was kind enough to point out some flaws in my portrayal of Jess in this chapter, and so I'm updating and reposting this chapter. 850 words later, I hope this update gives a more nuanced portrayal of Jess that is more faithful to how he appears in the series.</p><p>All the changes/updates come after this line "Dinner, early for Kateri’s druthers, came and went," if you want to start from there.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sound of something dropping and the noise of rattling cage doors startled Kateri awake sometime later. Somehow, she had managed to doze off despite the hardness of the floor and the wall she was leaning against. <em>Bloody h**l. </em>Kateri opened her eyes, glancing down first to check on Tali, and then looked around. More agents had entered the main holding room, more than had been left on the night shift when she’d fallen asleep. One was holding a clip-board, and another had just rattled the cage door of one of the cells nearer the main entrance.</p><p>
  <em>What the h**l is going on? </em>
</p><p><em>It’s only six bloody am</em>.</p><p>
  <em>Rattling doors … couldn’t you think of a better way to wake everybody?</em>
</p><p>Beside her Tali roused. “What’s going on?” She asked, her voice rough with sleep, as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.</p><p>“I don’t know,” Kateri replied. <em>But I have a bad feeling, because this is ICE, and they have a talent for making everything worse</em>. She grabbed her jacket which had fallen off Tali when she sat up and tucked it back around the eleven-year old’s shoulders. <em>It’s chilly in here.</em></p><p>Another cage door was rattled, a horrible noise that echoed in the cavernous room and set Kateri’s teeth on edge. “Alright,” the agent holding the clipboard bellowed, “When I call your name, come forward. You’re being moved.”</p><p>“Bloody h**l,” Kateri swore under her breath, forgetting for a moment her rule of not swearing in front of Tali, at least not in a language the kid could understand.</p><p>
  <em>As if this bloody day couldn’t get any bloody worse.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Where in all the bloody blue blazes are we being moved to?</em>
</p><p><em>This’ll make a h**l of a time for Jess and the others finding us</em>.</p><p>(The prospect of being moved to a different ICE facility ended up not being the worse thing. It was the lack of a “we” in the moving list.)</p><p>The ICE agent with the clipboard, whose face Kateri had added to her running tally, read off the somewhat substantial list of names in a monotone, nasal drawl. When they get to the Ls, Tali’s name was called, but when the Ws came and went, Kateri’s name wasn’t on the list.</p><p>Only Tali’s name had been called.</p><p>Some of those from the food bank raid were being moved, but not all.</p><p>Only Tali’s name had been called of the two of them.</p><p>Only Tali was going to be moved.</p><p><em>No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no</em>.</p><p>
  <em>This can’t be happening.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>This can’t be happening.</em>
</p><p>Nothing could have prepared Kateri for a moment like that, and nothing had. This wasn’t a situation that was supposed to happen. <em>We’re bloody citizens of the bloody United States. She’s underage</em>. <em>How am I supposed to keep her safe if we aren’t together?</em></p><p>Tali’s name was called again, this time a little louder and a little more harshly.</p><p>
  <em>Patience, thy name is NOT ICE.</em>
</p><p>Tali turned frightened eyes up toward Kateri. “I don’t want to go. Dad’s coming to come find us. I want to stay with you.”</p><p>
  <em>I want you to stay with me, but we don’t have much of a bloody choice.</em>
</p><p><em>Bloody ICE</em>.</p><p>Kateri could feel the hints of panic—not a panic attack—but panic trying to take over. She bit down on her lip until the coppery taste of blood hit her tongue. <em>Hold it together. Keep it together, Wood. </em>“I don’t think we have a choice, but we’ll try.”</p><p>Nothing Kateri did or said changed ICE’s mind, however. No matter what she argued, reasoned, harangued, or even pled, Tali was still on the list to be moved, and Kateri wasn’t. <em>And if she doesn’t go, they’re just going to move her by force, I’m afraid</em>. And if the situation wasn’t scaring enough, getting separated by force would be even worse. <em>Why are they moving some of us from the food bank raid, but not all of us? Why? </em>Kateri would have much preferred the reverse scenario if it had to happen at all. Jess would find the one of them in New York the quickest. <em>Find Tali first, and then come track me down. That’d be a whole lot better</em>.</p><p>But it was not to be.</p><p>
  <em>Take me, not her. That’d be a thousand times better.</em>
</p><p>Kateri tugged Tali back from the cage wall a few feet and squatted down so they were more on the same level. Tears pricked at her eyes, and Kateri bit her lip until she tasted blood again to keep the tears from falling. As long as she with Tali, she had to be strong. She had to keep the front up. <em>Don’t let her see that you’re scared. Gotta be strong for her. </em>Tali’s eyes were shiny, and her voice shook when she spoke, but she was obviously fighting to stay as calm as she could. <em>You’re such a brave kid</em>. <em>You’re so brave. No kiddo should have to go through this.</em></p><p>“You’re going to have to go with them, Tali. No choice. You have to be strong. You have to be brave now. We’ll find you. Jess and Clinton are coming for us. Don’t doubt that.” Kateri whispered, tucking her jacket closer around the girl’s shoulders, “Keep my jacket with you so you stay warm.”</p><p>“I won’t forget. But what about you?” Tali asked, “I don’t want to go.”</p><p>
  <em>I don’t want you to either.</em>
</p><p><em>No bloody choice in the matter</em>.</p><p>“I know, sweetheart, but you don’t have a choice. Just go with them. Watch yourself. Stay with the other women. Be careful. We’ll find you soon.”</p><p>
  <em>11 years old, you’re supposed to be safe.</em>
</p><p><em>I shouldn’t have to be telling you this</em>.</p><p>Tali threw her arms around Kateri’s waist. “I love you.” Her voice was muffled and a little shaky. <em>Oh, kiddo</em>.</p><p>“Konnorónhkhwa, kiase.”<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a> Slipping back into Mohawk for a private goodbye was second nature. Finally, after a long hug, Kateri pulled away with one final squeeze of her shoulders. “You’ve got to go now. I’ll see you soon.”</p><p><em>Got to go … before they do something horrific</em>.</p><p>Watching Tali be escorted away with the other detainees being moved ranked as one of the worst moments in Kateri’s entire life. It didn’t help that one of the older women being moved took Tali under her wing and called back that she’d look out for Tali. Kateri felt that it was her responsibility to look out for Tali.</p><p>And she couldn’t.</p><p>
  <em>Older looks out for younger.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Stronger for weaker.</em>
</p><p>She couldn’t.</p><p><em>I failed</em>.</p><hr/><p>Once Tali had disappeared from her sight, Kateri returned to her former seat along the back-wall and drew her legs up to her chest, trying to calm herself and stay warm. The cavernous room was drafty and on the chilly side anyway, and chills were one of the main symptoms of an oncoming, ongoing, or just passed panic attack. Kateri hadn’t fallen prey to a panic attack yet … <em>somehow</em> … but it felt like she had been teetering on the edge of one for hours and hours and hours.</p><p><em>That’s almost worse</em>.</p><p>
  <em>Rather’d just get it over with.</em>
</p><p>Breakfast time came and went. The food passed out was decent, but Kateri had no appetite, and she handed her food off to a couple of children who looked like they hadn’t had a decent meal in a while. <em>Always someone worse off than you are</em>. Her thoughts kept spinning around and around and around and around in circles, wondering where Tali was being taken to, whether she was okay, where Jess and Clinton were, was the team making progress on finding them, and what the h**l was going on with ICE.</p><p><em>Please, God, let Tali be okay</em>.</p><p>
  <em>It’s not supposed to be like this.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I’m supposed to watch out for her.</em>
</p><p>Morning passed interminably slowly. The shifts changed, and the faces of the watching agents changed. People moved about. A low hum of conversation filled the air, but it was mostly in Spanish or at a level too soft to comprehend, so there was no distraction to be found in that. Kateri liked people watching and found it a usually instructive habit, but what was there to watch in this warehouse? Just a lot of mostly women and children of color in the same temporary boat she was.</p><p><em>I wonder if there are any citizens here besides me</em>.</p><p>There was nothing much to do without her phone(s) or a book or enough space to exercise. Kateri wished she could go running, burn off the stress and fear and worry by pounding the pavement for a while, but that was impossible. Doing other exercises on a hard, cold concrete floor was not a pleasant idea, either. What Kateri really wanted was a hot shower for the ache in her back and a slug of IB and maybe a nap. After getting almost wrestled to the ground with a knee on her back, the ache had set in fiercely once her adrenaline rush wore off. Thankfully, the ache was a someone-got-a-good-hit-in kind of ache, not a someone-just-rebroke/cracked-my-rib kind of ache.</p><p>Lunchtime rolled around. The food was again decent, though not stellar, and this time Kateri forced herself to eat, as much because she knew she needed to keep up her strength and <em>Rakeni will fuss and give me the look if I don’t </em>as because she was actually hungry.</p><p>
  <em>I can’t imagine how Jess must be feeling right now.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Clinton’s never going to let me out of his sight again.</em>
</p><p><em>Can’t imagine what he must have thought getting called back from Quantico for this. </em>Clinton had been absent from New York for about a week, involved with something sniper related down at HQ in Virginia.<a href="#_ftn2" id="_ftnref2" name="_ftnref2">[2]</a></p><p>
  <em>Do they even know I am … was with Tali? That I’m missing? Did Tali’s phone catch me in it?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>How do I get myself into all these messes?</em>
</p><p>It was harder to keep the memories at bay without Tali’s presence to distract her, and worrying over Tali just made everything worse. Worrying on top of that about how long Kateri and Tali would be disappeared in ICE custody, how long it would take Jess and Clinton and the others to find them, how long it would take after that to find Tali and get her back from wherever she had been moved to just made things even worse on top of that.</p><p>
  <em>I don’t even understand why they moved her and the others.</em>
</p><p><em>It’s not like this facility’s full to the brim</em>.</p><p>Kateri felt her anxiety building as the early afternoon passed. The walls almost seemed to move and shudder at times, as if they were about to move inwards, but then Kateri would blink and all would be normal, the cage walls still again. <em>This room’s bloody big. Only the cages are small, and I can see through them. Not something worth panicking over</em>. Anxiety was not logical, however, and neither was Kateri’s claustrophobia or PTSD.</p><p>The symptoms of an oncoming panic attack grew worse as the time passed, and Kateri retreated further back from the rest of the group, trying to give herself some distance. She was scared, scared for herself and for Tali, and just wanted to go home. <em>You’re almost 33, not 13. Get a grip</em>. Her heart pounded like she had just done a hundred-yard dash trying to chase down a perp, like it was about to beat out of her chest, and the roaring of her blood became loud in her ears. Her skin crawled, and she almost felt like she could or wished she could crawl out of her own skin.</p><p>And Kateri was on her own.</p><hr/><p>After what must have been an extended-length panic attack, considering how drained she felt when she stopped losing time, Kateri came back to herself to the soft sound of a woman’s voice talking soothingly about inconsequential things. A discussion of gardening flowed into one about knitting and then into one about a cat, who seemed to have gotten into the knitting basket on one or more occasions. Kateri let the flow of soothing words wash over her and draw her back out of the swift-flowing river that was an anxiety-ridden severe panic attack and back to the real world.</p><p>Kateri uncurled from her ball-like posture and flexed her fingers. She had gripped her own wrists so hard that there was a hint of pins and needles racing over her fingers.</p><p>Once Kateri seemed more aware, the woman sitting at her side, a Hispanic woman with greying hair and a motherly smile, moved away out to arm’s length to give her space.</p><p><em>Bloody, bloody, bloody h**l</em> was Kateri’s first shaky thought. <em>That was a bad one</em>.</p><p>“Thanks,” Kateri said a couple of minutes later, once she thought her voice was level enough to speak, glancing over at the older woman beside her for a moment.</p><p>
  <em>I just want to go home. </em>
</p><p><em>Boss, Rakeni, I hope you find us soon</em>.</p><p>“Better now, dear?” The woman asked, “My granddaughter has panic attacks, and it helps her when I talk to her.” Her accent was Spanish, but of a particular lilt Kateri recognized from wandering through the Bronx but couldn’t place to an exact region.</p><p><em>Distraction and someone safe with you works wonders</em>.</p><p>
  <em>Used to have one of the others with me.</em>
</p><p>“Yes, gracias,” Kateri replied, “It’s been a really horrible day-and-a-half, and I’m not good with small spaces, and it just got too much.”</p><p>
  <em>Why am I telling you this?</em>
</p><p>The other woman nodded, a look of understanding in her eyes, “I have been here for three days. ICE took me from my work. I do not know where my family is. Some worked with me, but there were multiple trucks, and I have not seen them since. I sit, and I pray, and I wait. It all happens in God’s will."</p><p>
  <em>Bloody h**l, and God have mercy.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Separating families, separating children from their parents, it’s a bloody travesty.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sometimes it’s really bloody hard to believe that everything happens for a purpose.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sometimes all you can do is latch onto that belief and hope everything’ll be alright.</em>
</p><p>Kateri nodded slowly, wrapping her arms tightly around her torso, trying almost to curl into herself without going ball-like again, and shivering slightly. <em>I’m so cold</em>. The chill of the air compounded the post-panic attack chills and just made her even colder.</p><p>“Was that your daughter they took away earlier?”</p><p>Kateri shook her head. “My cousin, unofficially adopted. I was supposed to look after her,” her voice broke for a second, and she roughly swiped at the tears that stung at her eyes and threatened to fall, “Now I’ve got no bloody clue where she is or if she’s okay.”</p><p><em>Not like I’d trust ICE with my dog, if I even had one</em>.</p><p>“Family is family. Paperwork is technicality,” the woman said, before extending her head, “I’m Juanita.”</p><p>“Kateri. And that’s for bloody sure.”</p><p>“Is there family your cousin can stay with …”</p><p>“If one of us is deported?” Kateri asked, shooting a glance at the other woman.</p><p>Ms. Juanita nodded.</p><p><em>Uh, no, because legally we can’t be deported since we’re American citizens</em>.</p><p>Kateri shook her head, “We’re American citizens, so no. All our family’s here in New York.”</p><p>
  <em>And the only place they could even try to deport me to would be Canada.</em>
</p><p>Ms. Juanita’s dark eyes widened in shock, “Then why are you here?”</p><p>Kateri gave a half-shrug, “I have no bloody clue besides the agents in the raid were racist SOBs. We showed them our IDs and got told we didn’t look American enough.”</p><p>“You certainly could pass as Hispanic with your complexion.”</p><p><em>Which has helped me before</em>.</p><p>Kateri snorted, “True, but we’re not. We’re both First Nation. The only place I could even theoretically be deported to is Canada. I had dual citizenship until I turned 21, and then I declared for America.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, dear.”</p><p>“Me, too.”</p><hr/><p>Dinner, early for Kateri’s druthers, came and went, and the evening started to wane. One day in ICE’s custody was almost over, and Kateri hoped as few as possible were to come. <em>I want to go home, and I want to find Tali, not in that order</em>. After dinner, a bathroom break, and a little walking around just to keep herself from going stiff and sore … <em>make that even stiffer and sorer than I already am … </em>sitting on the hard ground for so long—<em>helps me stay warmer, too</em>—Kateri returned to her spot along the back wall.</p><p>A little time passed, and Kateri fell into a doze. She had gotten almost no sleep the previous night, keeping watch over Tali, and what sleep she had gotten had been more dozing than sleeping, and after a severe panic attack, she was utterly exhausted.</p><p><em>I think I could sleep for a week … if I had an actual bed</em>.</p><p>Suddenly, a noise jolted Kateri from her half-doze. A quick glance at her watch told her that it was a little past 7pm and not time yet for another shift change, but the sliding, cage-like door that led from the labyrinth of hallways outside into the cavernous holding room was opening. Kateri could hear voices, but since she was sitting, her line of sight to the door was blocked by the others milling about in the same cage.</p><p>
  <em>What’s going on?</em>
</p><p>Kateri recognized the voice that followed, rising over the general hum of multi-lingual conversations among the other detainees, though she couldn’t understand every word. It was Agent Davis, <em>one of the big shots around her</em>. “Long Island … food bank raid … dorm C.”</p><p><em>Bloody h**l</em>, <em>that’s us, </em>she swore in utter relief, <em>backup</em>.</p><p><em>Some of us</em>. That remembrance abruptly sobered her joy and relief at backup arriving. Kateri shivered hard and tucked her arms in tighter around her abdomen for the moment. <em>Still so cold</em>.</p><p>That guess was proven a moment later when her partner-father’s voice rang out clear, a mixture of irony and disbelief and sarcasm dripping from each and every word undergirded by a deep well of cold anger, “Dorms? Last dorm I was in had beds.”</p><p>(Unlike Kenny and Jess whose tempers leaned toward the more explosive, flashover variety … <em>hot and explosive when roused … quick to ignite, reasonably quick to die down </em>… Clinton’s temperament and … temper were almost diametrically opposite in some ways. As a general rule, his anger was the cold, slow-burning kind. <em>When I got kidnapped being the main, if only, exception I know about</em>.) He did not lose his temper quickly or easily, but <em>woe to those who get him angry</em>, and when he did, his anger was almost all the more intimidating … <em>not that he’s ever scared me … I don’t think … </em>because he did not yell, did not curse, did not look like he was about to hit something. <em>Sometimes he just turns into more of a lawyer, one with a very pointed tongue … kinda like me that way</em>.)</p><p>A sudden surge of energy filled Kateri and drove her to her feet, and she started forward from the back wall. “Jess, Clinton!”</p><p>
  <em>Don’t call him Rakeni, not here. </em>
</p><p>The two were almost level with the far chain-link wall of Dorm C in which Kateri was (and Tali had been), and their heads snapped towards her at the sound of her voice. Kateri could immediately see the look of relief that spread across her partner’s face (<em>my father’s face</em>) as soon as the two locked eyes, a look that was mirrored in Jess’ face.</p><p>“Open it!” Clinton or Jess snapped.</p><p>The chain-link door of the cage that was Dorm C was opened by the female shift-supervisor, sliding open with a rattle and a creak.</p><p>Clinton entered the cage. Kateri lunged forward, and after a few steps more, she was in her father’s—partner’s—arms. Clinton wrapped his arms tightly around her, and she almost burrowed into him, burying her face in the collar of his jacket, as arms wrapped tightly around her back. Her shoulders shook with utter, heartfelt relief and a few suppressed sobs.</p><p>She was safe.</p><p>
  <em>Tali’s not.</em>
</p><p>Safe.</p><p>
  <em>Tali’s not.</em>
</p><p>Finally, safe.</p><p><em>Tali’s not</em>.</p><p>Safe in her father’s arms. It was a thought probably more suited to someone not almost 33 years old … <em>just a couple more days</em> …  but after a severe panic attack and all-around horrible day-and-a-half, Kateri didn’t bloody care one bit.</p><p>Jess and Clinton were here. She was safe. She could get them the word about Tali, and then they could work on finding the kiddo next.</p><p>After what seemed like a minute but probably wasn’t that long, Kateri finally realized that Clinton was in the middle of saying something, “…work I couldn’t let you out of my sight?”</p><p><em>Called it</em>, was one shaky, amused thought despite the seriousness of the situation, <em>Knew you’d say something like that</em>.</p><p>“Sorry,” Kateri whispered, not moving for another moment from her father’s embrace.</p><p>The arm around her back tightened for a moment, but when the pressure sent a flare of pain up from what Kateri was sure was a colorful bruise on her back, she flinched reflexively. Clinton immediately felt her flinch, she knew, since he stiffened, but his arm moved, and she relaxed.</p><p>
  <em>Definitely going to have explaining to do later about this whole, sad, sorry saga.</em>
</p><p>“Are you alright?” He asked firmly a second later. When Kateri pulled back, she could see not just hear the burning anger in his face and eyes, but somehow, he was managing to keep a lid on it. <em>I’m not directly in danger, not like before. Doesn’t know about Tali yet.</em></p><p>“Depends on your definition of alright,” She replied, scrubbing the cuff of her jacket across her eyes. It was a more bluntly honest statement than she would often admit about her own state of health, mind, being. “Can we just get out of here, please?” Kateri’s voice shook heavily on her final words. Her nerves felt raw, compounded by her bad panic attack earlier, and her claustrophobia and being in a cage didn’t help either.</p><p>Clinton nodded and stepped aside to let her precede him toward the door.</p><p>
  <em>Always has my back.</em>
</p><p>Jess was standing just outside the entrance to Cage C (<em>Dorm C, according to the powers-that-be here</em>). There was relief in his face to see Kateri safe, but also a mixture of deep concern and burning anger. <em>They must have known we were together from the look on Clinton’s face. It was relief, not surprise. </em>Since Tali hadn’t appeared when Kateri had, <em>Jess must know Tali’s not with me any longer</em>. And didn’t that send a shaft of pain through her heart. <em>I was supposed to look out for her</em>.</p><p>“You alright, Kat?” Was Jess’ first question, once Clinton and Kateri had stepped out into the hallway between the two rows of cages … <em>dorms</em>.</p><p>Kateri gave a tired, half-shrug. “Enough for the moment,” her voice was quiet. <em>Getting out of here will help</em> … putting some physical distance between herself and the cages and the physical reminder of her first time in ICE custody. Her eyes dropped for a moment, and she missed the look of concern that passed between Jess and Clinton at her statement.</p><p>“Where’s Tali?” Jess then asked.</p><p>Again, Kateri bit her lip hard to keep her tears back. Her emotions were infuriatingly on edge after the stress of the day and her earlier panic attack, which bothered especially then because she didn’t like showing weakness in front of strangers or … potential threats … which, at the moment, ICE was. “I don’t know. I’m so sorry. I don’t know,” her voice shook again, and Clinton wrapped an arm tightly around her shaking shoulders, “They took her away this morning about 6am. She and some others from the food bank raid were transferred. I don’t know where. I’m sorry, Jess. I tried …”</p><p><em>I did about everything but get on my knees and beg</em>.</p><p>“It’s not your fault,” said Jess, his voice tight as his eyes scanned the holding room and the ICE guards, “I know you would have done everything you could.”</p><p>
  <em>Not sure I believe that right now.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What I could … could I have done more?</em>
</p><p>For a moment all was still, and then Jess’ face darkened, and in an instant, his temper completely boiled over, and he turned on the hefty Davis, grabbing two fist-fulls of his coat and shoving him back against the chain-link wall of the dorm. “Where’s my daughter you lying son-of-a-bitch?” Jess growled.</p><p><em>Bloody, bloody h**l</em>.</p><p>Nerves already shot … and raw, Kateri stuttered-stepped backwards well out of range, as Clinton and the shift-supervisor lunged forward to pull Jess off of the ICE agent. It took several long seconds, but finally Jess was shoved backwards by Clinton. <em>He’d probably like to hit something, but someone’s got to keep a cool head, or who knows what’ll happen with ICE.</em></p><p>“I’ve got him,” Clinton snapped at the ICE agents.</p><p>Kateri could feel her heart pounding in her throat again, and she wrapped her arms around her torso, resisting the urge to curl her shoulders. <em>Can we please just get out of here? </em>It was all quickly becoming too much again. <em>Keep it together. Keep it together</em>. She could almost feel herself on the downward slope toward another panic attack. <em>Not two in a day. Please, not two today of all days.</em></p><p>“I don’t know what happened to your girl,” Agent Davis replied, “I’ve never seen her.”</p><p>
  <em>I don’t know if you’re lying, oblivious, confusing kids together, or what.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I’ve seen you several times in the last 24-hours … before they took Tali … and I’ve tried to talk to you more than once.</em>
</p><p><em>Doesn’t mean you actually saw Tali, though</em>.</p><p>
  <em>Lotta people, lotta kids stuck in these cages.</em>
</p><p>Motioning for Kateri to follow, Clinton pushed Jess toward the door of the holding room, “Come on!”</p><p>Half-way up the aisle, Jess turned back again, shouting, “This place is a hellhole! You should be ashamed of yourself.” Clinton had to work to catch him again and shove him again toward the door. Though she agreed with his words, Kateri flinched again instinctively at Jess’ volume and tone of voice.</p><p>As much as she trusted Jess, as her boss and as a friend … <em>family relationship still developing</em> … shouting authority figures who were also bigger than her brought up bad memories of the past.</p><p>Really bad memories.</p><p>
  <em>He’s not angry at you.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He’s not a threat to you.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>This is Jess.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He won’t hurt you.</em>
</p><p>“Come on, Jess,” Clinton gave Jess a less than gentle shove toward the door.</p><p>Kateri followed them up the aisle, looking back toward Dorm C as her steps took her away from her temporary prison. Her eyes picked out Juanita from the crowd, and the two women’s eyes met. Juanita smiled and nodded, a goodbye of sorts, and Kateri forced herself to smile back, mouthing a thank you.</p><p>
  <em>Thank you for being there when I needed someone.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Thank you for the kindness of strangers.</em>
</p><hr/><p>The air outside was brisk and cold with a chill wind that cut straight through Kateri’s fleece jacket. It was meant to be an under-layer most of the time, not her only jacket in early February. <em>Tali prob’ly needs my coat more than me</em>. Already chilled by the lingering aftermath of her panic attack, Kateri shivered hard and wrapped her arms around her torso, tucking her shoulders in, trying to keep warm. A few seconds later a soft heavy weight settled around her shoulders. Her partner had removed his greatcoat and tucked it around her shoulders. When she opened her mouth to protest, Clinton just gave her <em>the </em>look.</p><p>
  <em>Yes, Rakeni.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Why do I even protest anymore?</em>
</p><p>“Niawen,” Kateri said quietly, shooting Clinton a grateful smile as she pulled his coat a little closer around her shoulders.</p><p>“You’re welcome,” Clinton replied, matching her pitch, “Do you need a medic to look at your back?” With Jess striding away some distance ahead back toward the car, they could have a private conversation without switching into Mohawk.</p><p>Kateri shook her head, “No, I’m alright. Just bruised. I objected to almost getting separated from Tali at the food bank, and one of the ICE goons objected to my objecting.”</p><p>
  <em>Why did you just get an aha look on your face?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Someone at the food bank say something about the take-down?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Probably.</em>
</p><p>“You sure?” Clinton confirmed, the same note of anger in his voice.</p><p>Kateri nodded. “Nothing’s torn or rebroken, if that’s what you’re concerned about. It would have hurt a h**l of a lot more in the moment or since then. Yes, my back aches, as you know since I flinched, but it’s the kind of hurt when a perp gets a hit in or Kenny forgets to pull his punch while we’re sparing. Something besides concrete for a seat and a bed, a hot shower, and a slug of IB will do wonders for fixing things.”</p><p><em>That’s one of the longest monologues out of me all day</em>.</p><p>The silence of her own mind and the lonely company of only her thoughts by and large had been hard.</p><p>“What a way to get called back here,” Kateri murmured a minute later, giving a hard shiver that made her wince in pain.</p><p>Clinton snorted, “I actually flew into JFK last night soon after the raid happened. As soon as I turned my phone back on, it started blowing up.” <em>Bloody h**l. </em>“At first, we only knew Tali had been taken … until we got to the food bank.”</p><p>
  <em>Bloody h**l!</em>
</p><p>Long strides had pulled Jess some distance ahead of Clinton and Kateri. Despite the chill in the air and her bones and her wish for the heat of the car, she was moving slowly, and Clinton was unsurprisingly matching her pace. At the car, which was parked a little way from the door, Jess began to pace around and around and around it, restless movements that Kateri had seen him do before. Sometimes he paced when he was thinking. Sometimes he just paced when he was restless. He was, unsurprisingly, on edge, <em>as on edge as I’ve ever seen him in five years</em>, and there was still the same burning anger in his eyes as inside. <em>ICE makes me angry even if Tali weren’t involved</em>.</p><p>Jess stopped his restless pacing when Clinton and Kateri caught up, turning sharply to face them. Too sharply. Too quickly. Old, ingrained instinct took over again, and Kateri flinched backwards. Her nerves were too raw, her guilt too sharp, and fast movements, loud voices, and reaching hands … too often in the past they had promised pain or punishment or both.</p><p>
  <em>Stop it, you idiot.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>This is Jess.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He’s not a threat.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He won’t hurt you.</em>
</p><p>Clinton and Kenny were the only ones to whom Kateri had ever admitted her that she had been physically abused as a child … <em>always gotta specify in our line of work </em>… and they had both given their word not to share what she had confided to them. There were moments still where when Kateri was thinking clearly, she wondered if some of the others had put together some of the pieces over the years. Whether based on the way they reacted sometimes … in moments like this … when her issues became … a thing … <em>again! Bloody again! </em>… if they had slotted together some of the pieces from her reactions and come up with something close to the truth.</p><p>
  <em>Jess’ father was kinda a deadbeat, too. </em>
</p><p><em>Just not quite in the same ways … from the stories</em>.</p><p>Almost in an instant, the restless energy that seemed to be consuming Jess and the burning anger in his eyes disappeared, contained back inside, and his posture changed subtly, reminding Kateri of what he was like on the occasions the team had to deal with children on cases. <em>Dad-mode</em>.</p><p>Clinton’s arm was back around her shoulders when Kateri’s thoughts refocused her and now, and the instinctive rush of panic faded. She forced herself to uncurl, forced her shoulders to straighten, hoping the darkness would hide the flaming blush across her face. Embarrassment warred with annoyance at her own weakness.</p><p>Kateri shivered hard.</p><p>“Come on, kid. Let’s get you home.”</p><p>Getting inside the car caused Kateri to balk for a moment before the allure of (A) heat and (B) being anywhere else but ICE won over her claustrophobic tendencies. <em>Just a car. You’re with the others. You’re safe</em>. Clinton and Jess got inside, Clinton driving; the heat was switched on; and Kateri happily watched ICE’s building recede away.</p><p>“..at?”</p><p>The sound of her name being called made Kateri start slightly.</p><p><em>You zoned out</em>.</p><p>“Kid?” It was Clinton’s voice this time, and Kateri looked up, met his eyes in the rear-view mirror, saw the clear concern in his expression.</p><p><em>I’m so tired</em>.</p><p>“Yea? Sorry.”</p><p>“Can you tell us what happened?” Jess’ voice was gentle.</p><p>Quickly but thoroughly, Kateri recapped the events of the last twenty-four hours in detail—<em>don’t know what they’ve been told or by whom</em>—starting with when she had met Tali at the food bank and ending when Tali had been transferred that morning.</p><p><em>Nothing relevant to finding Tali happened this afternoon, and Clinton doesn’t need to worry about what happened this afternoon either</em>.</p><p><em>Been worrying enough about us, I’m sure</em>.</p><p>Getting into the afternoon’s especially severe panic attack would risk leading back to the root cause of why ICE freaked Kateri out so much … a story that she had never told Clinton or the others.</p><p>
  <em>Doesn’t need more on his plate, ‘specially not with Tali still missing.</em>
</p><p>“What were you doing out there anyway?” Clinton asked once Kateri had wrapped the whole sad sorry saga to a close.</p><p>
  <em>Supposed to be meeting Zoey for a drink.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>So much for that idea.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>MY PHONES!</em>
</p><p>“I was killing time before I went to meet Zoey, one of the techs for my old unit, for a drink. So much for that idea. And please tell me that someone has my phones?”</p><p>“I have them,” Clinton replied, and Kateri gave a sigh of relief. <em>I like my phones. Getting three new ones would be a bloody hassle.</em> “They’re with my things at the bus. I just didn’t bring them all with me. Your truck is at Headquarters.”</p><p><em>Thank bloody goodness</em>.</p><p>
  <em>My truck!! I hadn’t even thought about my truck.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Wouldn’t have wanted to somehow get a ride/pay a cab to get all the way back to Huntington to get the bloody thing!</em>
</p><hr/><p>The decision was made at that point to return to the bus. Jess was muttering imprecations under his breath about an ICE agent named Austin Stevens, who was possibly the local supervisor, if Kateri was piecing together the comments correctly. Given how distracted he was, <em>probably a good thing Clinton’s driving. </em>Clinton also reminded Jess that he needed to call Nelson and Marilou and give them an update.</p><p>
  <em>Bloody h**l. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hadn’t even thought about them.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>They must be frantic. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Only granddaughter disappeared by ICE. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Bloody, bloody, bloody h**l.</em>
</p><p>Kateri herself was at a loss of what to do next … <em>after I get my stuff and my truck, that is</em>. She wished she could help, especially since Tali’s disappearance came on top of the case the team was already involved with. <em>Bloody white supremacists. You’re a special type of low life to go after kids. I’d like to help, but I’m not up to speed on the case; I’ve told all I know about Tali; I’m still on medical leave; and right now, I’m not going to much good to anyone without some IB and some sleep</em>. Now that she was sitting down on something besides concrete and the pressure was off, Kateri could feel herself crashing.</p><p>
  <em>I’m so tired.</em>
</p><p>“Kat,” Jess’ voice with the same careful tone broke into her thoughts.</p><p>“Yea, Jess?” Kateri roused from her reverie with another jerk. She was curled up against the SUV door, her head resting on the glass. After finishing up her explanation of the events of the last day-and-a-half, silence had fallen, Clinton and Jess letting her rest, and she had zoned out again.</p><p>“Do you have any contacts that might be helpful?”</p><p>
  <em>Uhhhhhhh.</em>
</p><p>“Helpful with this case of yours or finding Tali?” Kateri asked, leaning her head back against the head-rest of her seat and closing her eyes.</p><p>
  <em>Because there’s a big difference, and I don’t know enough about the former to opine. </em>
</p><p>“Tali.”</p><p>“I doubt it. The majority of my contacts are on the street, and only a handful are in various alphabet soup agencies. The former are better for helping find someone who's hiding from the law, not someone who's being hidden by the law, and I don’t think any of the latter could help. I’m sorry.”</p><p>
  <em>I’m so tired, I hurt. </em>
</p><p><em>I’ll get some IB at the bus</em>.</p><p>The rest of the drive passed in silence until they reached the bus. It was parked in a large parking lot … somewhere. Where exactly they were, Kateri didn’t know, but it didn’t really matter and she really didn’t care either. Unsurprisingly with the late hour, the usual surplus of cop cars and other agency vehicles were absent, and the bus stood like a lonely sentinel in the night.</p><p><em>Seriously? You need to go to bed</em>.</p><p>Jess remained outside to make a call … <em>probably to Nelson and Marilou</em> … while Clinton and Kateri headed on inside. It almost seemed like coming home to be returning to the bus. (Kateri spent about as much time in the bus as she did in her own apartment, or so it seemed some months.) At the sound of the door opening, Kenny, who was nearest the door, looked up first. For a second there was a blank look in his eyes like his mind was a million miles away and he had moved automatically, but then his gaze sharpened, and his eyes went wide. “Kat!”</p><p>Everyone was delighted to have Kateri back safe and sound—the update about Tali, however, was received with dark looks and muttered grumbles—and she was passed around from person to person for hugs, including one particularly tight bear hug from Kenny, before being settled in a chair with water and the IB she had been wanting for a long time. Jess returned while Kateri was recounting the whole sad sorry saga for a second time.</p><p>“Kat,” Jess’ voice paused the storytelling. He had his phone in one hand, his other hand blocking the microphone, “Do you want to come to the farm while this,”—<em>situation with Tali?</em>—“gets resolved?”</p><p>Clinton, who was leaning against the table beside her chair, added to her as an aside in a low voice, “Mom and Dad have been really worried about you, too.”</p><p>
  <em>And isn’t that a nice feeling. </em>
</p><p><em>Nice to have family and family who cares enough to worry about you</em>.</p><p>Kateri nodded, “Yes, please.” <em>Don’t feel like being alone right now, but can’t stay here and get in the way</em>. “But I’ll need, at least, my bag from my truck first.”</p><p>Jess made an affirmative gesture and stepped back outside to finish the call. Within about five minutes he returned, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “There’s a car coming for you, Kat. It’ll take you back to headquarters to get your things and then out to the farm.”</p><p>“Thanks, boss,” Kateri said gratefully.</p><p>
  <em>The perks of being the boss. </em>
</p><p><em>You get to tell people what to do</em>.</p><p>Kateri spent the time waiting for her ride to arrive being fussed over and teased gently about her propensity for getting into trouble. It was a nice moment of semi-normalcy after an insane 36-hours. <em>It’s good to be back here. I’ve missed being with everyone together. I’ve missed the camaraderie. </em>Finally, there was a honk from the parking lot. <em>My ride’s here</em>.</p><p>Temporary goodbyes were made, and more hugs were exchanged, the longest between Kateri and Clinton.</p><p>“Take care of yourself, kid.”</p><p>Kateri grinned, a look that ended up being hidden in her father’s—partner’s—shoulder. “I will. Can’t get into too much trouble at the farm,” there was a hint of only slightly forced levity in her voice, “Keep me apprised with updates, or if there’s anything I can do.”</p><p>“Will do.”</p><p>Jess touched her arm, carefully telegraphing the move, as Kateri moved toward the door. “Thank you, Kat, for looking out for Tali.”</p><p><em>Didn’t do that great of a job</em>.</p><p>Kateri forced a smile, nodding, “I just wish I could have done more, Jess.”</p><p>Jess’ eyes went hard for a moment, and he squeezed her shoulder gently, “This is on ICE, not you.”</p><hr/><p>The car was pleasantly warm, which did nothing to help a crashing Kateri to stay awake. The drive to HQ was surprisingly short—<em>must not have been that far after all. Seemed like longer</em>. As promised, her truck was sitting in the parking garage a stone’s throw from the doors that led to the team’s muster room. <em>It’s a good thing I leave an extra pair of keys in my locker. Wonder what newbie got tasked with that job, or did one of the others bring it back from the food bank? </em>After grabbing her go-bag quickly from her truck and detouring inside long enough to grab her spare coat from her locker, Kateri returned to her driver, and then it was off to the farm.</p><p>The drive from HQ to Glen Cove was 45 minutes on a good day. Kateri spent most of the trip on her phones, forcing herself to not doze off and to get a few things done. Not being on any of her phones for over twenty-four hours meant that she had a horrific number of missed calls, missed texts, and unread email.</p><p>
  <em>Four missed calls and six texts from Zoey. Bloody h**l.</em>
</p><p>*Sorry for disappearing. Had a run-in with ICE. LONG story. Will explain later,* Kateri shot off the text to her old colleague quickly.</p><p><em>She knows my opinions of ICE</em>.</p><p><em>She knows about the first incident, too</em>.</p><p>Travelling at night, keeping track of where one was—<em>without Google Maps on</em>—was more difficult, and Kateri, distracted by her phones, felt a slight stirring of surprise when the car slowed and she looked up to see the Skye’s house and barn illuminated in the car’s headlights. Having missed Sunday dinner, it had been nearly two weeks since Kateri had seen her almost-grandparents, and this being the reason for her early return was … hard.</p><p><em>Wish it weren’t like this</em>.</p><p>By the time Kateri had thanked her driver, climbed down a little stiffly from SUV—<em>IB’s still needs to fully kick in</em>—and retrieved her bag from the backseat, Nelson and Marilou had appeared on the porch to greet her.</p><p>Marilou opened her arms as soon as Kateri slowly took the steps up the porch, and the younger woman gratefully set her bag down and accepted the proffered embrace. (Even after a couple of months, it was still slightly strange having to bend down to hug her almost-grandmother. There weren’t many people Kateri knew who were actually shorter than she was, Hana and Marilou being the only two that came to her mind quickly.) A broader hand—<em>Nelson</em>—settled gently on her shoulder.</p><p>“I’m sorry. I tried to keep her safe.” Against her will, Kateri’s voice wavered slightly as she spoke.</p><p>“Nothing is your fault, sweetheart,” Marilou replied first.</p><p>“You did everything you possibly could, I’m sure,” Nelson added to his wife’s statement, a thread of anger in his voice. <em>At ICE, not you. Just because you’re blaming yourself, doesn’t mean the others are upset with you. Rakeni did say you came to the food bank</em>. “I’m glad you were together for as long as you were. At least Tali was not alone at first.”</p><p>
  <em>Bloody h**l … that’s an awful thought.</em>
</p><p><em>Small mercies</em>.</p><p>“We’re just glad you’re alright,” Marilou spoke again before Kateri could reply with more than a slight nod of acknowledgement, “But let’s go inside, dear. It’s cold tonight, and I know you must be tired.”</p><p>
  <em>Exhausted.</em>
</p><p><em>Utterly exhausted</em>.</p><p>Kateri was no stranger to forcing herself to push through tiredness when a job demanded it, but now that she was safe and the pressure was off, everything was hitting her like a ton of bricks.</p><p>Warm air swept over her as the three went inside, and Kateri felt herself relax a little further.</p><p>
  <em>You’re safe. You’re home … second home.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jess and Clinton’ll find Tali.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She’ll be okay.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Just gotta believe that.</em>
</p><hr/><p><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> Mohawk. I love you, cousin.</p><p><a href="#_ftnref2" id="_ftn2" name="_ftn2">[2]</a> My explanation for Clinton’s absence in American Dream before his appearance with Jess and Nelson at the food bank.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Friday-Saturday, February 7-8: Day 3-4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I updated Chapter 2 yesterday to fix some problems with my characterization of Jess, adding about 850 words of new content. If you haven't seen that yet, go take a look.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a long time before Kateri went to bed on Thursday night. After arriving at the farm and settling into the guestroom—which was starting to seem more like Kateri’s room by that point than a guest room—<em>the pillows I usually use, my favorite blanket, my book that I managed to forget the other week, everything like I leave it when I’m here</em>—Kateri had stayed up for a while longer talking with Nelson and Marilou, giving them the high points of how she had gotten caught up in the whole mess, what had happened during the raid—<em>since Nelson was there afterwards with Jess and Rakeni anyway</em>, and how Tali had been before the two were separated. <em>If it’s possible to be scared and brave at the same time just in different ways, she was</em>. Finally, about 10:30pm, Kateri headed off toward bed for some much-needed sleep that was not dozing, sitting up on concrete.</p><p>After what had happened Wednesday and Thursday, Kateri expected, as she crawled into bed, that her sleep would be plagued with nightmares, exhausted though she was. Her time in ICE custody … <em>stuck in a cage … </em>had nothing good for her claustrophobia, and even just being in the cars and the bus later, Kateri had noticed, had provoked more of the skin-crawling sensation that usually heralded that her claustrophobia was being a problem. Worse, that time in custody had dredged up bad past memories of her first time in ICE custody. Either one was enough to make her nightmares worse. Both together … <em>makes insomnia sound nice</em>.</p><p>Pure exhaustion had its uses, however, and although she vaguely though she had woken up just enough to roll over at one point, Kateri slept like the dead, only really rousing when the room grew lighter. <em>I forget to check the curtains were closed?</em> She pushed herself upright, rubbing her eyes and yawning. It was a little after 7am.</p><p>Eight hours of sleep in a real bed had done wonders, including for her raw nerves and on-edge emotions, and though not totally recovered, Kateri certainly felt more human as she got dressed, <em>though after breakfast, coffeeeeee, and more time to wake up, I’ll probably feel a little better still. </em>Her back was aching though, and the desire for IB was one of the main impetuses that drove her from bed. <em>Back was quite colorful when I saw it in the mirror last night. ‘Least that takedown didn’t do any more damage than it did</em>.</p><p>Breakfast was a quiet affair, almost somber in a way. Though Nelson and Marilou were trying to be welcoming and kind and caring good hosts to their almost-granddaughter, the situation with Tali was clearly weighing heavily on them, and neither of them looked like they had gotten much sleep that night.</p><p><em>Can’t blame them though</em>. <em>If I wasn’t so exhausted, I’d have been tossing and turning, too, worryin’ about Tali … if I weren’t havin’ nightmares</em>.</p><p><em>That adventure has given my nightmares new fuel for a while</em>.</p><p>
  <em>Might have given my nightmares nightmares.</em>
</p><p>Kateri let the silence linger and focused her attention on drinking her tea and eating her plate of eggs, ham, and toast. The situation was so far out of the ordinary, so far out of her line of experience that she didn’t know what to say to help.</p><p>
  <em>Child getting taken by ICE isn’t in the usual playbook of things most parents/grandparents lose sleep over.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The law is the law when it comes to immigration, separating children from their families, from their parents … that’s just wrong.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Whether the law SHOULD be the law is another matter entirely.</em>
</p><p>Tali’s absence was keenly felt before and during and after breakfast. The house seemed eerily quiet and empty without her cheerful smile, energetic presence, and excited chatter about whatever was on her mind or whatever was up for school that day.</p><p>
  <em>How ICE is enforcing the law is just … horrific.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Why someone hasn’t done something about their detention facilities is beyond me. </em>
</p><p><em>Wouldn’t leave my dog, if I had one, in a place like that</em>.</p><p>“Any chores I can help with?” Kateri offered as she carried a load of breakfast dishes into the kitchen for washing up.</p><p><em>I could use a distraction</em>. Something to think about and focus on beside her concern for Tali’s safety and her own lingering guilt over not being able to protect Tali. <em>Wish we could have switched places. Wouldn’t do anything good for my issues. ‘Least Tali might be home.</em></p><p>“Are you sure you feel like it, dear?” Marilou replied, taking the dishes from her and starting to load the dishwasher.</p><p>“Good night’s sleep and a real bed, and my medical leave ends Monday anyway, so yes.”</p><p>
  <em>IB’s kickin’ in by now.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Long as I’m careful … I’ll be fine.</em>
</p><p>There was no shortage of work to be done around the house or the farm, and with Tali absent, there was one less pair of hands to help, so Marilou gratefully accepted Kateri’s offered help. The first chore that needed to be done was checking to see if the chickens had laid any eggs.</p><p>The chicken coop was a large pen down by the barn with covered cages full of straw for the fluffed-up birds to stay sheltered in from the cold. Helping get eggs from a cadre of pint-sized birds that Kateri could have dropped kicked if the need had arisen proved much harder than Kateri first thought it would be. Some of the chickens were docile, but some of them were pint-sized terrors with ornery tempers and sharp beaks, <em>nasty little buggers</em>, and Kateri gave multiple undignified yelps at the pecks of their sharp beaks as she helped search for new eggs.</p><p>On the way back from the barn, Lucy, an orange tabby cat with a glossy coat, trotted past them with a large, dead mouse hanging from her jaws. Kateri had only seen Lucy a couple of times during her lengthy stay at the farm, but Tali talked about the cat a lot and was quite fond of her, occasionally bemoaning the fact that Lucy was an outdoor cat only and wasn’t allowed in the house.</p><p>Kateri watched the cat go past with a bemused smirk on her face, “Is that mouse going to end up as a gift for us on the porch?”</p><p>“No,” Marilou replied, “Thankfully. Our last cat frequently brought us offerings, but Lucy doesn’t.”</p><p>
  <em>That’s a relief. Having a cat to keep rodents out of the barn is good, but offerings of those rodents as gifts to us humans … uhhhh, no, thank you.</em>
</p><p><em>Show your appreciation of us in different ways, kitty cats</em>.</p><p>
  <em>Pretty please.</em>
</p><hr/><p>In other news, her teammates took her request to be kept in the loop on the case and the search for Tali very literally, because starting about 9am, texts started appearing in the group text that Kenny, Hana, and Kateri all used, mainly for the Insomniac’s Club, and in the one she and Clinton used. (The texts would continue in a running string off and on for the rest of the day.)</p><p>At 9am, the first text from Clinton appeared not long after Kateri came in from helping Marilou with the blasted chickens. <em>I appreciate having eggs to eat, but seriously!</em> *Hope you’re feeling better this morning. Stephens does not know where Tali is but says the agency does. Jess ready to open kidnapping case. Off to Stone Ridge for case.*</p><p>
  <em>The agency does, but not the local boss … I’m feeling very reassured right now.</em>
</p><p><em>Sometimes I think ICE’s incompetence rivals my old unit’s</em>.</p><p>
  <em>Kidnapping case … Wow. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jess’ pullin’ out the big guns. </em>
</p><p>*Good. I’ll testify. Doing alright.*</p><p>Kateri returned her phone to its pocket, smoothed out the scowl on her face so she didn’t worry Nelson or Marilou, and went off to see what chores were next on the list. That proved to be laundry, including sheets.</p><p><em>Laundry, I can do that in my sleep</em>.</p><p>
  <em>Sheets from the all the beds … five beds … that’s two to three loads on its own … unless your washing machine a lot gianter than I remember.</em>
</p><p>Over lunch, another string of texts came in. The first was from Kenny. *Tracking down truck used in ransom pick-up,”—<em>what truck from which pick-up? This is why I’m not helping</em>—“Father says son, using truck, not racist. Son collects vintage plates, including ‘88’ and ‘14’. Sorry, pops. Time to face the facts.*</p><p>
  <em>What a very Kenny text of you!</em>
</p><p>Considering this was a white supremacist case, she had picked up enough about the case to know that much—<em>I loathe cases with them</em>—Kateri was able to decipher the numbers with only a moment’s thought. <em>HH, therefore, Heil Hitler, and 14-word slogan.</em> Those type of cases always put a bad taste in her mouth.</p><p><em>The balderdash those people spout doesn’t even make sense</em>.</p><p><em>Nobody’s better or worse just because of the color of their skin</em>.</p><p>
  <em>It’s our character that makes a difference.</em>
</p><p>A few minutes later, Kateri’s phone buzzed again, this time with a text from Hana, *Should’ve seen KC’s ‘ooh, burn’ moment!*</p><p>The situation—the case—was not funny in the slightest, but sometimes there was still a little levity to be found in one liners, quips, and each other’s reactions to specific moments in the case. Sometimes with a bad case you had to find the lighter side of something so the case didn’t drive you nuts.</p><p>“News?” Asked Nelson suddenly after Kateri slipped her phone back into her pocket for the second time. His voice, though quiet, broke into her thoughts and made her flinch slightly</p><p>Kateri shook her head regretfully, “Not on Tali. Just updates on the case. I asked to be kept in the loop.”</p><p>A few minutes later her phone buzzed … again. “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Kateri muttered under her breath, putting her sandwich back down and wiping a drip of mustard sliding down one finger off on her napkin before she grabbed for her phone.</p><p><em>When I asked to be kept in the loop, I wasn’t looking for my phone to be buzzing off the wall all bloody day</em>.</p><p><em>Hey, they’re just doing as you asked, and depending on who’s where and with whom, they don’t know that the others are texting also or at what rate</em>.</p><p>This text was from Clinton, *Got a hit from my contact with HS. Intel on raid. Heading back to the city.” <em>HS! You’ve got a contact in Homeland?! Wow</em>.</p><p><em>Please let it be helpful</em>.</p><hr/><p>Stone Ridge, New York, was a two-hour drive north of the city so Kateri figured it was going to be awhile before the next update came. Feeling a little stir-crazy and somehow having some excess energy after only one real night’s sleep after the ICE ordeal, Kateri went out for a run early afternoon. Simply being out of that warehouse/cage/detention facility thing had helped her … issues … some, but she still felt somewhat on edge and a little antsy, and running helped her stress levels.</p><p>The temperature had risen to a brisk 40 degrees with a low wind. It was a little cold for Kateri’s druthers when she went running, but <em>as the saying goes, beggars can’t be choosers, and at least running will keep you warm, and you’ll get to see some new sights around here, even if those sights are only trees, trees, and more bare trees</em>.</p><p><em>Do I have my phones? </em>Kateri stopped at the end of the driveway and patted her pockets to double check. If there were more updates, she wanted to know, and if she managed to get lost in an unfamiliar neighborhood, she also wanted GPS and Google Maps.</p><p>
  <em>Hopefully my sense of direction is better than that … usually is.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But still …</em>
</p><p>Pounding the pavement provided a temporary relief from her meddlesome brain and her worried thoughts that all too often wanted to circle—<em>spiral</em>—around Tali and her own sense of misplaced guilt over not being able to protect her and the endless string of question: “What ifs …” and “Should’ves ….” <em>Where is she? Is she okay? What on earth is happening with ICE? </em>The string of questions went on and on.</p><p>Mid-afternoon, another update came from Clinton while Kateri was sitting alone in the living room reading. *Helpful intel from HS. Tali not in detainee database yet,*—<em>not surprised. Not that long since the raid, and efficiency, thy name is not ICE</em>—*Foodbank targeted as part of ongoing county investigation,*—<em>uhhhh, okay. Interesting and a little weird</em>—*Raid order supposedly issued by Stevens predecessor almost two weeks ago, BUT Stevens backdated the order to cover his tracks.*</p><p>“Bloody h**l,” Kateri muttered under her breath. <em>What the h**l is going on? Why’s an ICE Supervisor backdating orders? This doesn’t make sense</em>.</p><p>*Is this something I pass the gist of on or keep to myself?* Kateri texted back.</p><p>A reply from Clinton came within minutes. *Keep it to yourself. Jess’ll give the folks an update tonight.*</p><p>*Copy. Watch yourself. This reeks.* <em>Be careful, Rakeni. </em>Now more than ever Kateri hated still being stuck on medical leave and not being there to help with the case. <em>If I’d had my ID with me, would this’ve been different?</em></p><p>
  <em>They might have left me and taken Tali … Ugh … this situation’s better than that’d be. </em>
</p><p>*Will do. You doing alright, kid?*</p><p>*Hanging in there. Real bed and real sleep helped a lot.* After sending off that message, Kateri slipped her phone back into her pocket, shaking her head in disbelief. <em>This just gets more unbelievable by the hour. What the h**l is going on with ICE? I’ve never held fond feelings before them, but this is a new level of unbelievable</em>.</p><p>Her phone buzzed again about as soon as Kateri had reopened her book, and she pulled it back out of her pocket with a sigh. It was a text from Hana. *Just got official permission to turn Stevens inside out. Hang in there, Kat.* At the end of the text was a somewhat freaky GIF of a grinning Cheshire Cat. <em>Whatever Stevens did for whatever reasons, boy is he going to start regretting it soon, if he hasn’t realized already he’s gone after the wrong people</em>.</p><hr/><p>Except for a few more texts with snippets about various leads and the team’s travels across the tri-state area on the hunt for Emma Kane and her merry band of White Supremacists (as became revealed in those texts over the course of the afternoon), not much else happened on Saturday after Clinton’s update with the news from his Homeland Security contact. It was late when Kateri went to bed, as she stayed up for a while reading until her thoughts quieted and she actually felt sleepy.</p><p>The night was less quiet … <em>much less quiet</em>, and Kateri woke several times from nightmares, thankfully without any screaming or flailing. <em>Last thing I need is to give Nelson and Marilou a heart attack</em>. Some dreams faded from her mind like mist in the morning sun as soon as she awoke, leaving her only with a sense of vague dread and fear. Only one Kateri actually remembered a few pieces of, flashes of herself searching through a vast, cavernous, shadowy warehouse calling for Tali, and though Tali answered from far way, Kateri could never find her however much she searched and searched and called and called.</p><p>
  <em>Bloody, bloody, bloody h**l!</em>
</p><p>Several new texts were waiting for her when Kateri crawled out of bed about 7am on Saturday morning, feeling much less refreshed than she had the previous morning. <em>Sometimes I hate my brain</em>. Most of the texts were from her teammates, more updates about what had occurred overnight, including various mentions about a couple of gun-runners, some locals across the state-line in Connecticut, and their concern that Kane was planning a bomb attack … somewhere … at some point. <em>Bloody h**l</em>. Trying to file away those snippets of information to make a more complete whole with the bits she already knew was difficult, and she almost ended up more confused than before.</p><p>
  <em>I know enough to have the basic outline of what’s happening with this case.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The rest is just confusing.</em>
</p><p>What was more surprising and almost as disconcerting was a text from Billy to her burner. *You disappeared again. Are you dead?*</p><p><em>Seriously?</em> Kateri starred at phone for a second, her emotions somewhere between amused and aghast. <em>That you know that disturbs me, and no</em>. <em>Only been gone a couple days, for heaven’s sake. Did I even tell him when my medical leave ends?</em></p><p>*I’m a zombie,* she texted back, *Had a run-in with ICE. Staying with a friend for a few days.*</p><p>Billy, whatever he was doing, was currently awake, and a reply came within a minute.</p><p><em>Okay. That’s unprintable</em>.</p><p><em>He’s no fonder of ICE than I am</em>.</p><p>
  <em>And he knows about time #1, too.</em>
</p><hr/><p>Saturday passed quietly, for which Kateri was grateful, though she wished there were more updates on the search for Tali as opposed to mostly on the hunt for Emma Kane and her ilk. She was somewhat sorry that she would miss going to mass the next day but figured that being in a noisy crowd for a while so soon after the incident could be a flare up for her … issues, and Kateri was glad to be able to spend the time with Nelson and Marilou so that they didn’t have to be alone worrying.</p><p>After dinner Kateri was sitting outside on the porch swing, reading and getting some fresh air. <em>A little chilly, but not too much with a jacket and a blanket. And a break from being inside something enclosed</em>. She was half-way through another chapter of <em>The Return of the King</em> by porch light when her phone buzzed with an incoming text.</p><p>It was a text from Kenny, which made Kateri’s heart lurch and her blood run cold as soon as she read it quickly. *Update on Tali. Jess got text from unknown number. Threats against Tali, who is ‘a mutt in the system,’ deportation and MS-13 if he doesn’t read w-s manifesto within twelve hours.*<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a></p><p> </p><p>
  <em>A white-supremacist manifesto, what the h**l is going on?</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>A mutt? Term usually refers to mixed-breed dogs, ‘least when I’ve heard it.</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>Racism aside … that’s an odd way of referring to her … unless … unless … the one sending the threats knows her background.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Might narrow the suspect pool.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p><em>This reeks</em>.</p><p> </p><p><em>Bloody h**l</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Kateri was glad she was sitting out on the porch so she could mutter and fume and make faces without Nelson or Marilou noticing. <em>Not sure I’m supposed to share this—prob’ly not—don’t want to have to either</em>. <em>Bloody h**l, this is so messed up</em>.</p><p>*Bloody h**l,* Kateri texted back, *Keep me apprised. Let me know if any of my contacts might become useful. I can put out feelers if needed.*</p><p>*What’s Jess going to do?* Kateri shot off one more quick text. <em>If it were my kid, I’d hold my nose and read it, but the big bosses might not like that</em>.</p><p>
  <em>I’d do a lot to get my kid home safe.</em>
</p><p>A reply came a few minutes later. *TBD. Jess wants to do it. Castile talking to director. Protocol and policy. Clint busy, so asked me to send update. Hope you’re doing okay.*</p><p>Kateri sent an acknowledgment and brief update back and then put her phone away. “Bloody, bloody h**l,” she swore under her breath. <em>What the h**l is going on?</em> The case was getting crazier and more convoluted by the hour.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Has ICE lost its collective puny mind?</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>What’s ICE’s connection to all this anyway?</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Does this case tie into the raid somehow? </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>What the h**l is going on?</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>Kateri let her head thunk back against the back of the porch swing and then winced when her head made contact with a little more force than she intended. <em>Bloody, bloody h**l</em>. <em>This is so messed up</em>. The pounding of her heart started to roar in her ears, and she suddenly realized her hands were shaking. When something triggered her claustrophobia or PTSS badly enough for a panic attack, especially a severe one like the other day, it was so much easier to fall back over the edge into another for several day afterwards.</p><p> </p><p><em>Before my issues finally go back to semi-sleep for a bit</em>.</p><p> </p><p><em>Okay, okay, okay, you know the drill</em>.</p><p> </p><p><em>In for 5 seconds. Hold for 2 seconds. Out for 5 seconds. Rinse. Repeat</em>.</p><p>
  
</p><p><em>In for 5 seconds. Hold for 2 seconds. Out for 5 seconds. Rinse. Repeat</em>.</p><p> </p><p><em>In for 5 seconds. Hold for 2 seconds. Out for 5 seconds. Rinse. Repeat</em>.</p><p> </p><p><em>In for 5 seconds. Hold for 2 seconds. Out for 5 seconds. Rinse. Repeat</em>.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Poor Tali. She doesn’t deserve to be caught up in this mess.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>They’ll find her. She’ll be okay.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Jess and Clinton’ll hunt to the ends of the earth to find her and bring her home.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>But … what’s it going to do her long term?</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Kids aren’t supposed to be dealing with something like this at her age.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Okay, not the best thought to have when you’re almost to the point of a panic attack.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p><em>In for 5 seconds. Hold for 2 seconds. Out for 5 seconds. Rinse. Repeat</em>.</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Get a grip.</em>
</p><p> </p><p><em>In for 5 seconds. Hold for 2 seconds. Out for 5 seconds. Rinse. Repeat</em>.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Get a grip.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p><em>In for 5 seconds. Hold for 2 seconds. Out for 5 seconds. Rinse. Repeat</em>.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Get a grip.</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>Breathing exercises took the edge off the budding panic attack, but they did not do enough to totally quell it, so Kateri fell back on an old grounding exercise Kenny had taught her after the 2017 December SNAFU when she was first learning to cope with her new diagnosis.</p><p> </p><p><em>Okay, you know the drill. Let’s try this again</em>.</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Five things you can see: The house; the barn; the very shadowed, dark outline of a bloody lot of trees; I think that’s the chicken coop, at least it’s in the right direction; and the other chairs on the porch.</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>Four things you can touch: the wood of the swing, the knit blanket, the leather of my coat, and the paper of my book.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Three things you can hear: wind whistling in the trees; the creak of the swing as I rock; and my own breathing.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Two things you can smell: outdoorsy smells #1 and outdoorsy smells #2.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>The search for Tali had just landed between a rock and a hard place. The whole thing was a mess, and Kateri was glad she wasn’t either Castille, the director, or Jess right then.</p><p>It was late when Kateri finally felt tired enough to go to bed, tired enough that she thought her circling, spiraling thoughts might not keep her awake. <em>Just the nightmares to look forward to</em>. As she started to drift off sometime later, her gaze fixed distantly on the ceiling above her, studying the small cracks she could see in the light seeping in around the curtain, one last thought occurred to her:</p><p>
  <em>My birthday’s tomorrow.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>33 years.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What a time for a birthday.</em>
</p><hr/><p><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> In the episode, Jess was told to read the manifesto at a press conference within six hours. However, it appears to be about 8pm when he gets the text, but when he reads the manifesto sometime later, it is light outside. Since sunrise is at 7am in early February, I have lengthened the time of the demand to 12 hours.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Sunday-Monday, February 9-10: Day 5-6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for the delay in posting this. I was in meetings for most of the afternoon with university starting back up on Monday. It is still Friday my time, even if A03 says this is being posted on the 22nd.</p><p>Missing scenes will be forthcoming for this story, dealing with the aftermath of this case and some other moments during the case itself, but not for a bit. The first missing scene (in Clinton's POV) from when he finally finds out about what happened with Kateri and ICE the first time is about 1/2 or 2/3ish finished, but I won't get it finished and edited by Monday, so I'll probably post it after Silkworm. And more missing scenes for Reveille and other stories will got written and posted as inspiration strikes.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At 6am on Sunday morning—the morning of her birthday—Kateri awoke from yet another nightmare of searching and searching fruitlessly for Tali. It was only one of multiple dreams that had haunted her that night. The dreams otherwise had been a crazy mixture of things her subconscious dreamed up combined with snippets of memories from her past … of her arrest by Cortez and her first time in ICE custody … doused liberally with her fear for Tali’s safety and her own private fear about getting disappeared for a long time by ICE.</p><p>At that point, Kateri decided that she was sick and tired of being plagued by her subconscious and pushed aside the covers, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. <em>It’s my birthday</em>, she remembered, the date on her phone bringing it back to her mind again as she checked her phone for any messages from her teammates. <em>Nothing yet</em>.</p><p>
  <em>Hard to believe it’s my birthday. Not much for celebrating this year. Not too much to celebrate today of all days. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Craziest birthday in a number of years … well since I met the team. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ones while I was still upstairs … some were crazy, others were nice to okay.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Billy always remembered.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Eh, enough reminiscing. It is what it is.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Might still be able to do something nice with the others later.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Time to get a move on regardless.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Up you go.</em>
</p><p>With a quiet sigh, Kateri rose from head and started heading toward her bathroom … and immediately cursed when bare feet hit the cold floor. She backtracked to stuff feet into her old, comfy slippers, her spare pair of which had managed to migrated from her place to the Skyes over the last month, and then retraced her steps. <em>Shower and then breakfast and then anything to keep your mind off things.</em></p><p>When she emerged from the shower and went out to check her phone while wringing out her hair, there was a few-minutes old text message from Clinton waiting on her phone. *Press conference at 7.* There was also information on how to access the live feed.</p><p><em>Suffering in solidarity, I suppose</em>.</p><p>
  <em>Combined with keeping abreast on the search for Tali.</em>
</p><p>The new wrinkle in the search for Tali and the added pressure—<em>rock and a hard place</em>—Jess was under from whomever was threatening Tali and forcing this press conference had not been far from Kateri’s mind the whole night. She could not imagine what he … <em>and Rakeni </em>… were going through at that point.</p><p><em>The bosses agreed</em>, <em>then.</em></p><p>
  <em>Hope this helps.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Please, God, keep Tali safe.</em>
</p><p>Nelson and Marilou were already up, also, as Kateri emerged from her room after quickly finishing drying her hair and getting dressed for the day. <em>Advantages of shorter hair. Dryable more quickly. </em>(She’d had much longer hair … <em>a lonnnngggg time ago</em>, and it’d taken forever to die.) Neither of them looked like they had slept well. Jess had called with an update after Kenny had texted her and before Kateri had gone to bed. <em>Don’t know exactly what he told them, ‘specially with relation to the threats and press conference, but given the potential consequences for Tali if this goes bad … I imagine he was straight with them</em>. She couldn’t imagine what they were going through at that point, what Jess and Clinton were going through. <em>I know how bad it is for me. Must be worse by an order of magnitude for them.</em></p><p>Just before 7am, Kateri took her laptop out to the porch and settled on the swing to watch the press conference, the fingers of one hand absent-mindedly twirling her watch around and around and around her wrist in a gesture of unease. It was a little chilly to be sitting outside, though the extra blanket she tucked around her legs helped, but Kateri wanted privacy … and some air. The more uneasy she got, the more she worried about Tali, the smaller the house seemed to get.</p><p>The room the press conference was being held in was unfamiliar to Kateri, and it was not the big room that had been used for the press conference during the Cleo Wilkins case several months before. Jess wasn’t up at the podium yet, but SAC Castille and a man whose face Kateri didn’t recognize were already up there, waiting for the press conference to begin. <em>Solidarity? Support? Oversight? </em>Jess appeared a few minutes later, smack at 7am on the dot. He looked tired and drawn, and his voice was flat and almost toneless when he began to read the manifesto out loud.</p><p><em>You do what you got to do for family, for your kids</em>.</p><p>“The FBI called the White Identity Movement the number one threat to the American way of life.”</p><p><em>Not sure I would have agreed it was </em>the <em>number one threat.</em></p><p>
  <em>After this … welllll, I might change my mind on that.</em>
</p><p>“A way of life that includes open borders, white genocide, invasions by inferior races.”</p><p>
  <em>Seriously? Their baloney doesn’t even pass the smell test. </em>
</p><p><em>White Genocide?! Whites are the largest racial group in America for heaven’s sake</em>.</p><p>
  <em>How is one race inferior to another? We’re all humans. Just because your skin color is different from mine, that doesn’t make you better and me worse or vice versa.</em>
</p><p>“But those days are over now. Your army …” Jess stopped for a moment. <em>Can’t blame him. Must be galling to have to say those words despite the reason</em>. “Your army of crusaders …” <em>Crusaders? Seriously? </em>There he paused again and looked off to one side toward Castille. <em>I wish I were there watching with the others, there with Rakeni</em>.</p><p>Jess’ attention finally returned to whatever he was holding with the words of the speech … <em>tablet, papers … can’t see his hands …</em> but this time he didn’t restart, and after a moment, he shook his head and removed his glasses, “I can’t do it. That’s all.” His voice was flat.</p><p><em>Oh, bloody h**l</em>.</p><p>Kateri could feel her heart leap into her throat.</p><p>
  <em>What about Tali? What’s the cost of stopping?</em>
</p><p>“The people who wrote this are cowards,” Jess looked back up straight into the camera, and the emotion his voice had been lacking earlier was fully evident in the slightest shake to his words, “They’re holding my daughter, my 11-year-old daughter, hostage. An innocent girl.”</p><p><em>Father, protect her</em>.</p><p>
  <em>I’m all for setting the record straight, but at what cost?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Not sure I could’ve stomached getting even that far, but …</em>
</p><p>“Anybody who believes this c**p,” Jess wasn’t done yet, “who encourages this … They’re not good people.” With quick, violent movements he tore up the sheets of paper with the speech written on it and stepped away from the podium with one final parting appellation, “Cowards.”</p><p><em>Bloody h**l</em>.</p><p>Kateri closed the lid of her laptop and set it aside on the swing beside her, her heart pounding in her throat and her blood roaring in her ears. “Bloody, bloody h**l.” She scrubbed her hands across her face and through her hair and then idly finger-combed her hair back straight. One hand went to her rosary, hanging on its cord around her neck, and she murmured internally the words of two familiar prayers</p><p>
  <em>Blessed Michael, archangel,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>defend us in the hour of conflict.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil</em>
</p><p>
  <em>(may God restrain him, we humbly pray):</em>
</p><p>
  <em>and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>by the power of God thrust Satan down to hell</em>
</p><p>
  <em>and with him those other wicked spirits</em>
  <em>who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.</em>
</p><p>That prayer which she prayed consistently before every raid flowed into the Hail Mary.</p><p>
  <em>Je vous salue, Marie, pleine de grâce:</em>
</p><p>
  <em>le Seigneur est avec vous;</em>
</p><p>
  <em>vous êtes bénie entre toutes les femmes,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>et Jésus, le fruit de vos entrailles, est béni.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>priez pour nous, pauvres pécheurs,</em>
</p><p><em>maintenant et à l'heure de notre mort. Amen</em>.</p><hr/><p>That press conference and its ending did not forebode well for the rest of the day, and Kateri mulled over the idea of going down to HQ on the off chance there was anything she could do to help … <em>even just for moral support … </em>but concluded eventually that it wasn’t a good idea. Nelson and Marilou had seen the press conference, and <em>I don’t want to leave them right now.</em></p><p>
  <em>Definitely not after this of all things.</em>
</p><p>The same swirling morass of questions kept trying to take over Kateri’s thinking, the endless repetitions of worried thoughts and questions of how Tali and Kateri’s own actions: “What if I had” and “Could I have” and “Should I have” combined with the usual “Is she hurt?”, “Is she getting food?”, “Is she warm enough?”, “Is she okay?”</p><p>The last question was complicated to answer, as Kateri well knew from personal experience.</p><p>
  <em>There’s okay, and then there’s okay.</em>
</p><p><em>She won’t be okay okay until she’s home safe with the family</em>.</p><p>
  <em>But even after that … she won’t escape this without some types of scars, I don’t think.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I hope to God I’m wrong.</em>
</p><p>No one was hungry after that press conference, but Kateri was glad to sip a mug of tea before the day’s work began. <em>Hopefully, you’ll get an appetite later. I can imagine the look I’d get from Rakeni if I didn’t eat and he knew. </em>There were always chores to be done, <em>and that’ll help as a distraction</em>. Marilou’s means of stress relief and distraction was spring cleaning—<em>almost-spring cleaning? Still a month to go for spring</em>—and Kateri was given a dust rag and other supplies and sent off to work on the living room. <em>Don’t mind the work myself either. Something to get lost in and distracted with</em>.</p><p>A little under an hour later Clinton texted with an update while Kateri was carefully dusting the pictures and other knick-knacks on the bookcase by the fireplace. *Update from HS contact. No sign of Tali in ICE facilities in New York, Connecticut, or New Jersey. They’ll expand the search.*</p><p>
  <em>Wait … what? Seriously? </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Why the h**l did they move her out of the tri-state area?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What’s the point? It took resources and days just to get all the local facilities searched?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Is ICE deliberately trying to hide her? </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Is ICE behind that press conference farce?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Always thought ICE was corrupt and had some bad apples, but does it really run that deep?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Don’t get ahead of yourself, Kateri.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Don’t get ahead of yourself.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>This is a federal agency you’re talking about.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You need more facts.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>More data.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A lot more data.</em>
</p><p>Kateri had just moved onto the fireplace mantel when her phone buzzed again less than twenty minutes later. Every time her phone buzzed with an incoming text, Kateri felt another ounce of dread take hold in her gut. The way the last few days had been going, new news wasn’t usually good news. With the new concerns over Tali after the press conference and the continuing threat of Emma Kane and her merry band of nutsos and their giant bomb both hanging over the team’s head, Kateri’s first thought when her phone buzzed was always:</p><p>
  <em>What’s gone wrong now?</em>
</p><p>Her eyes widened when she saw Clinton’s text, however. *Lead on Tali. Maybe in ICE facility in Ashburn, GA. Jess and I heading there now. Others staying local to continue case.*</p><p>
  <em>Georgia??????</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What the h**l?</em>
</p><p>A minute later he sent a follow-up text, *Don’t let the folks know just in case this is a bust.*</p><p>
  <em>Don’t want to get their hopes up.</em>
</p><p>Kateri pulled her cross from under her shirt and kissed it quickly, murmuring the words of a hasty prayer. <em>Please, God, let this work. Keep Tali safe</em>. When she had finished, she tucked her cross back under her shirt and crossed herself quickly. <em>Please let this work!!!</em></p><p>Now it was just time to wait again.</p><hr/><p>Some quick checks of Google Map and flight times … <em>I love Google Flights for reference …</em> told Kateri that, assuming that Jess and Clinton were using a chartered FBI flight or an FBI plane like she figured they would, and factoring in driving time from the nearest airport to Ashburn, it would probably be a minimum of three hours before there was more news, so Kateri set back to work with a vengeance, trying to distract herself.</p><p>She was not that successful.</p><p>
  <em>I still can’t figure it: why Georgia of all bloody places?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Why move at least one person from New York to Georgia? </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The expense, if nothing else, must be … immense. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Would have had to do something private, or the feelers the others had out would have picked up on it … I’d think.</em>
</p><p><em>Seriously? I just don’t get this</em>.</p><p>
  <em>What the h**l is going on with ICE?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>This whole situation is a SNAFU … almost to rival two years ago … maybe … kinda … just in different ways.</em>
</p><p>About 11:30am the house phone began to ring while Kateri was coming back from her room. Her phone buzzed with an incoming text at the same time. As she stopped to check it, footsteps moved swiftly at the front of the house, and then there was a loud gasp and then the sound of Marilou exclaiming “Tali??!!” in a voice filled with utter, heartfelt relief.</p><p>Grab for her phone aborted, Kateri sagged against the wall with a sigh of relief, pressing her hand to her mouth to muffle her sobs. Tears pricked at her eyes unbidden and spilled down her cheeks. For a moment Kateri let herself weep and then scrubbed her hands across her face and through her hair, trying to get a grip on her emotions. <em>Bloody h**l, it worked. Thank God</em>. She crossed herself quickly and pressed another kiss to her cross.</p><p>Marilou was standing at the top of the dining room steps, tears running down her cheeks, as Kateri appeared in the living room a minute later. The older woman blocked the microphone of the phone for a moment with her hand. “Nelson’s in the barn. Please …” <em>Go get him</em>.</p><p>Kateri nodded and headed for the door, not even bothering to grab her coat. The cold nipped at her skin and pierced straight through her fleece jacket. <em>Extra incentive to move faster</em>. As soon as she had trotted down the porch steps—<em>don’t trip over your own feet!!!!</em>—Kateri broke into a jog and then into a run, bolting across the grass toward the barn. The sheer relief and exhilaration of Tali finally being found safe after days of worry and guilt swept away the tiredness and stress that had plagued Kateri all day.</p><p>Nelson was working on the main floor of the barn, attention focused on fixing a wooden stool with a damaged leg, but looked up immediately as Kateri hurried in. <em>I was making enough noise to wake the dead</em>. A look of concern passed over his face for a moment, but then she saw that he saw the relief in her face.</p><p>“Tali,” Kateri gasped out, momentarily out of breath after her dash from house to barn in the bitter cold. <em>I bloody hate running in this weather</em>. “Clinton and Jess found her.”</p><p>The utter relief that swept over Nelson’s face in an instant mirrored his wife’s reaction.</p><p>The two hurried back to the house side by side, and Kateri almost had to hustle to keep up with the older man’s pace. <em>Relief gives wings</em>. Marilou was pacing the living room, still on the phone with Tali, and tears were still trickling down her cheeks. Nelson went straight to her side, while Kateri stepped away down the hallway to give them privacy and pulled out her phone to check her texts.</p><p>There were two. The one she had felt earlier and one she hadn’t noticed in the meantime. The first was from Kenny, *Bolo hit on Carter’s truck. Off to Ulster County.* <em>Where the h**l is Ulster County? And whose Carter?</em> *Bomb maybe on board.* <em>Bloody h**l</em>. <em>Google Maps, here I come. Ah, two hours north.</em></p><p>*Stay safe,* Kateri texted back quickly.</p><p>The second text was from Clinton, *Tali safe as you probably know from the call. ETA to JFK: three hours. We’ll bring her home.*</p><p>*Copy.*</p><p>
  <em>Tali’s probably going to have a first rough night back if sheer exhaustion doesn’t take her out. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Don’t expect Jess or Rakeni will be able to stay. Need to keep an eye on the kid.</em>
</p><p>A voice from up the hall broke through her thoughts. It was Marilou calling her name. “Kateri, dear, Tali wants to talk to you.”</p><p>“Coming,” Kateri slipped her phone back into her pocket and jogged up the hall to take the phone from Marilou’s outstretched hand.</p><p>
  <em>Keep it together.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Keep your voice level.</em>
</p><p><em>Don’t cry</em>.</p><p>“Kiase,” there was a slight shake to Tali’s voice, and Kateri could hear a few sniffles.</p><p>“Hey, Tali. Told you they’d find us. You okay?”</p><p>Another sniffle. “I’m okay. Just tired. Daddy says I can sleep on the plane. You’re really okay?” There were car noises and the low murmur of voices in the background.</p><p>
  <em>Yeaaa, sleeping in ICE custody doesn’t work so well.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lights on.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>No real bed.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>No real blankets.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Floor’s hard.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Room’s cold … even if it’s hot outside.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Wouldn’t leave my hypothetical dog in a place like that.</em>
</p><p>“Yea, kiddo, I am. Just a bit tired and worried about you. I got a share of what your uncle always complains about, saying I give him grey hairs,” Kateri replied soothingly.</p><p>
  <em>Oh, good, a snort of laughter in the background.</em>
</p><p><em>Meant for Rakeni to hear that</em>.</p><p>
  <em>Mission accomplished.</em>
</p><p>Tali giggled, “I’ll see you when we get back?”</p><p>“Yep. Wouldn’t miss you for the world.”</p><p>Kateri was only ‘okay’ <em>depending on what’s one’s definition of okay is</em>, but that was not something she would ever dream of revealing to Tali. For Tali, she had to be strong. Two days distance from ICE and all the horrors it represented had helped Kateri somewhat, and the rawness of her nerves had faded somewhat. <em>Real food, real sleep helped a lot.</em> Her nightmares were still haunted though, dark dreams of abuse and disappearances and Tali’s screams. Sometimes the house still got almost too small, and Kateri still found herself flinching sometimes, jumping sometimes when voices or movements surprised, though she desperately tried to quell those old learned instincts. The last thing she wanted was for Nelson and Marilou to notice and get concerned.</p><hr/><p>With Tali safe, one half of the issues that had been weighing over the team were solved. There was still Kane and her merry band of nutsos ... <em>any that are left by now ... </em>as well as the bomb threat to deal with, but Tali at least was safe, and the team could focus on the case. Around 3:30pm there was the sound of a car door outside. It was the moment everyone had been waiting for.</p><p>Tali was safe.</p><p>And now she was home.</p><p>Jess was the first to appear out of the SUV but then turned back to lift Tali out. Exhaustion was clear in the girl’s body language, but the tiredness vanished to be replaced by an ecstatic grin as soon as she saw the welcoming committee waiting by the porch. <em>She’s still wearing my jacket</em>. As soon as feet hit the ground, Tali dashed forward and was enveloped in her grandparents’ arms.</p><p>Smiling a half-wistful smile, Kateri stepped away to give them a little privacy and greeted Jess and her father—<em>partner. Don’t get too used to it, or being professional back at worth is going to be hard. Harder</em>. Clinton wrapped an arm around her shoulders, but none of the three of them spoke for a moment, their attention on the reunion happening before them.</p><p>Eventually Jess spoke, his tone regretful, “We have to head back out. They caught up with Carter in Ulster.”</p><p>“Dead or alive?” Kateri asked.</p><p>
  <em>Is he questionable or not?</em>
</p><p>“Dead after he fired on the roadblock with an M16,” replied Clinton dryly, keeping his voice low so it wouldn’t carry.</p><p>
  <em>Bloody h**l!!!!!!!</em>
</p><p>Kateri’s eyes went wide, and she gulped, swallowing hard. “Everyone alright?”</p><p>Jess nodded, “They also found a body, a janitor named Jack Kendall, in the back of the truck, and there was evidence that the bomb was in the truck. It’s now wired for remote detonation and fully operational, Kenny says.”</p><p>
  <em>Double bloody h**l!!!!!!</em>
</p><p><em>God have mercy</em>.</p><p>The arm around her shoulders tightened for a moment. “Happy Birthday, by the way, kid,” Clinton added after a moment.</p><p>“More to be happy about now,” Kateri replied, glancing back over toward Tali, “Thanks.”</p><p>Jess nodded agreement, “Happy Birthday, Kat. The others haven’t forgotten either, but today has been …”</p><p>“Crazy?” Kateri prompted, “And a little insane for good measure? This whole week’s been insane.”</p><p>Before more could be said, the group by the porch broke apart, and Tali turned back toward Kateri and bolted towards her.</p><p>“Brace yourself,” Clinton muttered as Kateri stepped aside and did just that.</p><p>
  <em>Thud hugs!</em>
</p><p>Tali threw herself into Kateri’s arms, wrapping her arms around her almost-cousin’s waist in an octopus-like embrace, and Kateri hugged her back just as hard. It was a relief to have her back safe and sound after days of worry.</p><p>
  <em>If I didn’t have grey hairs before Wednesday, I certainly will now.</em>
</p><p><em>I have new sympathy for Clinton when he complains I give him grey hairs</em>.</p><hr/><p>Jess and Clinton soon departed, and everyone went back inside. The rest of the afternoon and the evening passed quietly. Aside from being visibly exhausted, Tali seemed to be doing surprisingly well for being in ICE custody alone for several days. <em>Kids are surprisingly resilient and adaptable. </em>She was a little quieter—<em>could chalk that just up to exhaustion</em>—and a little bit clingier, preferring to stick closer to her grandparents or Kateri herself, but except for that she seemed mostly normal … for the moment.</p><p>
  <em>Issues don’t crop up right away always. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Have to see how she sleeps tonight.</em>
</p><p><em>Specific things can trigger problems, also</em>, … <em>like with me.</em></p><p>An update came on the case just after dinner via a text from Hana, *Stevens spilled the beans. Target tomorrow morning. Location unknown.*</p><p>
  <em>Target for the bomb threat?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Wait, Stevens, the ICE supervisor?????</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Bloody h**l.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What the h**l is going on with ICE?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>This is a new level of messed up … even for ICE!!!</em>
</p><p>Kateri decided, with approval from Nelson and Marilou, to sleep upstairs that night in the room Clinton usually slept in. With Jess and Clinton away for the case, she thought it prudent to have somebody upstairs just in case Tali had a bad night. Tali went to bed early, and by 9pm Kateri was settled in bed, reading by lamp light, the door to the hallway open slightly so she could hear if Tali, whose bedroom door was also partially open, got unsettled.</p><p>Around 10pm, her personal phone buzzed several times in quick succession. Putting her book aside and then snagging her phone off the bedside table, Kateri thumbed open her texting app and immediately smiled.</p><p>What had just come in was a string of birthday well-wishes from Hana, Barnes, and Kenny as well as ones from Miguel and Zoey. <em>To go with Billy’s birthday wishes earlier</em>.</p><p>Hana and Kenny’s messages were both in the group chat that was usually used for the Insomniacs Club. Aside from an apology for the late wishes, Hana’s birthday wishes were largely … <em>uh, a GIF and a YouTube video. Okkkaayyyy. </em>The video was of some very cute puppies … barking Happy Birthday, while the GIF was of a dog with a birthday crown next to a birthday cake<em>. Oh, Hana. You remembered my fondness for dogs, I se</em>e.</p><p>Kenny’s birthday texts were typical Kenny. A bouncing Snoopy GIF saying “Congratulations” was followed by a you-are-over-the-hill birthday GIF--<em>I'm only 33!!!--</em>followed by a string of winking emojis. That made Kateri slap a hand over her mouth to muffle the instinctive rush of giggles.</p><p>
  <em>Don’t wake up Tali!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</em>
</p><p>Barnes’ message was more … sedate, *Happy Birthday, Kat. Sorry to not text earlier. It’s been one of those days. Hope we all can do something together for you once the case is over.</p><p>Kateri sent back thanks to all and then soon went off to bed. Despite her concerns that Tali might have a bad night … <em>ICE is good at causing those </em>… the night, however, seemed to pass quietly. Kateri slept lightly and woke up frequently from her own dreams, a smaller proportion of which were nightmares. Every time she woke, she would lie awake in bed for a few minutes, listening to see if she heard anything concerning from across the hall. Once she was reassured that she heard nothing—<em>Exhaustion has its use</em>—Kateri rolled back over and went back to sleep.</p><p>Everyone slept in Monday morning, except for Kateri, who often seemed to find herself incapable of sleeping in … even when she wanted to. <em>REALLY wanted to</em>. <em>A pox on my body clock!!!!</em> There were no updates when she got up around 7:30am, but about 11:30, as Kateri sat sipping her tea as the others ate brunch, a new text came in from Clinton.</p><p>*Suspect down. Device disarmed. All safe.*</p><p>
  <em>Bloody h**l, and thank God!</em>
</p>
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